The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (film)
{{short description|2007 film by Julian Schnabel}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
| image = DivingBellButterflyMP.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| native_name = {{Infobox name module|Fr|Le scaphandre et le papillon}}
| director = Julian Schnabel
| producer = Kathleen Kennedy
Jon Kilik
| based_on = {{Based on|The Diving Bell and the Butterfly|Jean-Dominique Bauby}}
| screenplay = Ronald Harwood
| starring = {{Plain list |
}}
| music = Paul Cantelon
| cinematography = Janusz Kamiński
| editing = Juliette Welfling
| studio = Pathé Renn Production
Canal+
The Kennedy/Marshall Company
France 3 Cinéma
| distributor = Pathé Distribution (France/United Kingdom)
Miramax Films (United States)
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|2007|05|22|Cannes Film Festival|2007|05|23|France|2007|11|30|United States}}
| runtime = 112 minutes
| country = France
United States
| language = French
| gross = $19.8 million{{cite web |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=divingbellandthebutterfly.htm |title=The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=2 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902223326/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=divingbellandthebutterfly.htm |archive-date=2 September 2017 |url-status=live }}
}}
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly ({{langx|fr|Le Scaphandre et le Papillon}}) is a 2007 biographical drama film directed by Julian Schnabel and written by Ronald Harwood. Based on Jean-Dominique Bauby's 1997 memoir, the film depicts Bauby's life after suffering a massive stroke that left him with a condition known as locked-in syndrome. Bauby is played by Mathieu Amalric.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly won awards at the Cannes Film Festival, the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, and the César Awards, and received four Oscar nominations. Several critics later listed it as one of the best films of its decade.{{cite web |last=Dietz |first=Jason |date=3 January 2010 |title=Film Critics Pick the Best Movies of the Decade |url=http://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critics-pick-the-best-movies-of-the-decade |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428073436/http://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critics-pick-the-best-movies-of-the-decade |archive-date=28 April 2017 |access-date=1 January 2017 |website=Metacritic}} It ranks in BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century.
Plot
The first third of the film is told from the main character's, Jean-Dominique Bauby, or Jean-Do as his friends call him, first person perspective. The film opens as Bauby wakes from his three-week coma in a hospital in Berck-sur-Mer, France. After an initial rather over-optimistic analysis from one doctor, a neurologist explains that he has locked-in syndrome, an extremely rare condition in which the patient is almost completely physically paralyzed, but remains mentally normal. At first, the viewer primarily hears Bauby's "thoughts" (he thinks that he is speaking but no one hears him), which are inaccessible to the other characters (who are seen through his one functioning eye).
A speech therapist and physical therapist try to help Bauby become as functional as possible. Bauby cannot speak, but he develops a system of communication with his speech and language therapist by blinking his left eye as she reads a list of letters to laboriously spell out his messages, letter by letter.
Gradually, the film's restricted point of view broadens out, and the viewer begins to see Bauby from "outside", in addition to experiencing incidents from his past, including a visit to Lourdes. He also fantasizes, imagining beaches, mountains, the Empress Eugénie and an erotic feast with one of his transcriptionists. It is revealed that Bauby had been editor of the popular French fashion magazine Elle, and that he had a deal to write a book (which was originally going to be based on The Count of Monte Cristo but from a female perspective). He decides that he will still write a book, using his slow and exhausting communication technique. A woman from the publishing house with which Bauby had the original book contract is brought in to take dictation.
The new book explains what it is like to now be him, trapped in his body, which he sees as being suspended in impenetrably murky water within an old-fashioned deep-sea diving suit with brass helmet, which is called a scaphandre in French, as in the original title. Others around see his spirit, still alive, as a "Butterfly".
The story of Bauby's writing is juxtaposed with his recollections and regrets until his stroke. We see his three children, their mother (whom he never married), his mistress, his friends, and his father. He encounters people from his past whose lives bear similarities to his own "entrapment": a friend who was kidnapped in Beirut and held in solitary confinement for four years, and his own 92-year-old father, who is confined to his own apartment, because he is too frail to descend four flights of stairs.
Bauby eventually completes his memoir and hears the critics' responses. He dies of pneumonia ten days after its publication.{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/europress/boyles200310100902.asp|title=Pre-Mortuarial Medicine|last=Boyles|first=Denis|date=10 October 2003|website=National Review|access-date=4 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050407230911/http://www.nationalreview.com/europress/boyles200310100902.asp|archive-date=7 April 2005}}{{cite web|last=Thomas|first=Rebecca|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7230051.stm|title=Diving Bell movie's fly-away success|website=BBC|date=8 February 2008|access-date=4 May 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/06/15/reviews/970615.mallon.html|title=In the Blink of an Eye|first=Thomas|last=Mallon|work=New York Times|date=15 June 1997|access-date=4 May 2014}} The closing credits are accentuated by reversed shootings of breaking glacier ice (the forward versions are used in the opening credits), accompanied by the Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros song "Ramshackle Day Parade".
Cast
{{castlist|
- Mathieu Amalric as Jean-Dominique Bauby
- Emmanuelle Seigner as Céline Desmoulins
- Anne Consigny as Claude Mendibil
- Marie-Josée Croze as Henriette Durand
- Olatz López Garmendia as Marie Lopez
- Patrick Chesnais as Dr. Lepage
- Max von Sydow as Mr. Bauby Sr.
- Isaach de Bankolé as Laurent
- Marina Hands as Joséphine
- Niels Arestrup as Roussin
- Anne Alvaro as Betty
- Zinedine Soualem as Joubert
- Emma de Caunes as Empress Eugénie
- Françoise Lebrun as Madame Bauby
}}
Production
The film was originally to be produced by American company Universal Studios and the screenplay was originally in English, with Johnny Depp slated to star as Bauby. According to the screenwriter, Ronald Harwood, the choice of Julian Schnabel as director was recommended by Depp. Universal subsequently withdrew, and Pathé took up the project two years later. Depp dropped the project due to scheduling conflicts with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.{{Cite news |last=Turan |first=Kenneth |date=May 23, 2007 |title=The film Julian Schnabel 'had to' make |url=http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/calendar/cl-et-diving23may23,0,6681526.story?coll=cl-calendar |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20071224193320/http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/calendar/cl-et-diving23may23,0,6681526.story?coll=cl-calendar |archive-date=December 24, 2007 |access-date=May 23, 2007 |work=Los Angeles Times}} Schnabel remained as director. The film was eventually produced by Pathé and France 3 Cinéma in association with Banque Populaire Images 7 and the American Kennedy/Marshall Company and in participation with StudioCanal and CinéCinéma.{{cite book | last1=Alexander | first1=R. | last2=Das | first2=S. | title=Wise Mind, Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss, and Change | publisher=New Harbinger Publications | year=2009 | isbn=978-1-60882-470-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UlX5X2TdS64C&pg=PA210 | access-date=12 November 2018 | page=210}}
According to the New York Sun, Schnabel insisted that the movie should be in French, resisting pressure by the production company to make it in English, believing that the rich language of the book would work better in the original French, and even went so far as to learn French to make the film.{{Cite news |last=Hartman |first=Darrell |date=September 28, 2007 |title=Schnabel's Portrait of an Artist in Still Life |url=http://www.nysun.com/arts/schnabels-portrait-of-an-artist-in-still-life/?page_no=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008102309/http://www.nysun.com/arts/schnabels-portrait-of-an-artist-in-still-life/?page_no=2 |archive-date=October 8, 2012 |access-date=May 9, 2008 |work=New York Sun}} Harwood tells a slightly different story: Pathé wanted "to make the movie in both English and French, which is why bilingual actors were cast"; he continues that "Everyone secretly knew that two versions would be impossibly expensive", and that "Schnabel decided it should be made in French".{{Cite news |last=Harwood |first=Ronald |date=24 January 2008 |title=How I Set the Butterfly Free |url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/north-america-travel/us-travel/california/how-i-set-the-butterfly-free-ndqhm9gqpd0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20221031011043/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/how-i-set-the-butterfly-free-ndqhm9gqpd0 |archive-date=2022-10-31 |access-date=March 10, 2008 |work=The Times}}
Schnabel said his influence for the film was drawn from personal experience:
{{blockquote|My father got sick and he was dying. He was terrified of death and had never been sick in his life. So he was in this bed at my house, he was staying with me, and this script arrived for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. As my father was dying, I read Ron Harwood's script. It gave me a bunch of parameters that would make a film have a totally different structure. As a painter, as someone who doesn't want to make a painting that looks like the last one I made, I thought it was a really good palette. So personally and artistically these things all came together.{{cite web |url=http://drewtewksbury.com/2008/04/19/interviews-julian-schnabel-and-cast-of-diving-bell-and-the-butterfly/ |title=Interviews: Julian Schnabel and cast of "Diving Bell and the Butterfly" |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515135008/http://drewtewksbury.com/2008/04/19/interviews-julian-schnabel-and-cast-of-diving-bell-and-the-butterfly/ |archive-date=2009-05-15 |work=Cargo Collective |date=28 November 2007 |first=Drew |last=Tewksbury |access-date=2008-05-13 |url-status=dead }}}}
Several key aspects of Bauby's personal life were fictionalized in the film, most notably his relationships with the mother of his children and his girlfriend.{{cite web |date=23 February 2008 |last=Arnold |first=Beth |work=Salon |url=http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2008/02/23/diving_bell/index.html |title=The truth about The Diving Bell and the Butterfly |access-date=3 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080707030158/http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2008/02/23/diving_bell/index.html |archive-date=7 July 2008 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |date=30 November 2008 |last=di Giovanni |first=Janine |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/nov/30/diving-bell-butterfly-florence-bensadoun |title=The real love story behind The Diving Bell and the Butterfly |access-date=13 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415163049/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/nov/30/diving-bell-butterfly-florence-bensadoun |archive-date=15 April 2017 |url-status=live }} In reality, it was not Bauby's estranged girlfriend who stayed by the patient's bedside while he lay almost inanimate on a hospital bed, it was his girlfriend of several years.
Reception
{{Anchor|Critics|Critical response}}
The film received universal acclaim from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 94%, based on reviews from 176 critics, and an average rating of 8.30/10, with the general consensus stated as, "Breathtaking visuals and dynamic performances make The Diving Bell and the Butterfly a powerful biopic."{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_diving_bell_and_the_butterfly_2007/ |title=The Diving Bell and the Butterfly |access-date=4 April 2022 |work=Rotten Tomatoes | publisher=Fandango | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231213153/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_diving_bell_and_the_butterfly_2007/ |archive-date=31 December 2014 |url-status=live }} Metacritic gave the film an average score of 92/100, based on 36 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".{{cite web |title=Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2007) |url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/divingbellandthebutterfly |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080108041359/http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/divingbellandthebutterfly |archive-date=8 January 2008 |access-date=5 January 2008 |website=Metacritic}}
In a 2016 poll by BBC, the film was listed as one of the top 100 films since 2000 (77th position).{{cite web |title=The 21st Century's 100 greatest films |url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160819-the-21st-centurys-100-greatest-films |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131124228/http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160819-the-21st-centurys-100-greatest-films |archive-date=31 January 2017 |access-date=2 September 2017 |website=BBC}}
In 2024, Looper ranked it number 13 on its list of the "50 Best PG-13 Movies of All Time," writing "The restrictive nature of [Jean-Dominique] Bauby's condition could have daunted other filmmakers, but director Julian Schnabel managed to figure out the tiniest ways to convey this man's interior world. Though Bauby may have thought his life was over once he was paralyzed, the critically-praised film of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly shows how truly alive this man's spirit was in the face of adversity."{{cite web | url=https://www.looper.com/806086/best-pg-13-movies-of-all-time-ranked/ | title=50 Best PG-13 Movies Of All Time Ranked | website=Looper | date=October 14, 2024 }}
= Top ten lists =
The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007.{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2007/toptens.shtml |title=Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists |access-date=25 February 2008 |website=Metacritic | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080223094629/http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2007/toptens.shtml |archive-date=23 February 2008}}
{{Div col}}
- 1st
- Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post
- Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times (tied with The Savages)
- David Edelstein, New York magazine
- Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
- Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal
- Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times
- Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter
- Lawrence Toppman, The Charlotte Observer
- 2nd
- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
- Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
- Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor
- Fredrik Gunerius Fevang, The Fresh Films
- 3rd
- Dana Stevens, Slate
- Desson Thomson, The Washington Post
- Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail
- Stephanie Zacharek, Salon
- Stephen Farber, The Hollywood Reporter
- Stephen Holden, The New York Times
- Steven Rea, The Philadelphia Inquirer
- 4th
- Ray Bennett, The Hollywood Reporter
- 5th
- Andrew O'Hehir, Salon
- Ty Burr, The Boston Globe
- 6th
- James Berardinelli, ReelViews
- Glenn Kenny, Premiere
- Peter Vonder Haar, Film Threat
- 7th
- A. O. Scott, The New York Times (tied with Into the Wild)
- David Ansen, Newsweek
- Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter
- Rene Rodriguez, The Miami Herald
- Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter
{{Div col end}}
Awards and nominations
{{Anchor|Awards|Accolades}}
It was nominated for four Academy Awards, but because the film was produced by an American company, it was ineligible for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0401383}}
- {{Mojo title|divingbellandthebutterfly|The Diving Bell and the Butterfly}}
- {{Rotten-tomatoes|diving_bell_and_the_butterfly|The Diving Bell and the Butterfly}}
- {{Metacritic film|title=The Diving Bell and the Butterfly}}
- [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21050 "The Nerve and The Will"] review at the New York Review of Books
{{Julian Schnabel}}
{{Navboxes
|title= Awards for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
|list1=
{{Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film 1990–2009}}
{{Lumières Award for Best Film}}
{{National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{Polish Academy Award for Best European Film}}
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The}}
Category:2007 biographical drama films
Category:2007 independent films
Category:2000s French-language films
Category:American biographical drama films
Category:American independent films
Category:American nonlinear narrative films
Category:BAFTA winners (films)
Category:Best Film Lumières Award winners
Category:Best Foreign Language Film Golden Globe winners
Category:Biographical films about actors
Category:Biographical films about writers
Category:Films about disability in France
Category:Films about disability in the United States
Category:Films about people with paraplegia or tetraplegia
Category:Films based on biographies
Category:Films based on memoirs
Category:Films directed by Julian Schnabel
Category:Films featuring a Best Actor César Award–winning performance
Category:Films featuring a Best Actor Lumières Award–winning performance
Category:Films produced by Jon Kilik
Category:Films produced by Kathleen Kennedy
Category:Films scored by Paul Cantelon
Category:Films set in the 1990s
Category:Films set in hospitals
Category:Films shot from the first-person perspective
Category:Films whose director won the Best Director Golden Globe
Category:Films whose writer won the Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA Award
Category:Films with screenplays by Ronald Harwood
Category:France 3 Cinéma films
Category:French biographical drama films
Category:French independent films
Category:French nonlinear narrative films
Category:French-language American films