There is a resounding amount of truth on display in ‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’. The man at the centre of the story is a flawed one and admits as much, even so that it occurs to him that the tragedy that has befallen him is a consequence of his past behaviour. Equally presented as a concrete truth is the valour of human determination. There is no getting away from the deflating effect of the premise of this true story – Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric), editor of Elle, not unaccustomed to a good lifestyle, suffers a stroke. The stroke leaves him with full mental capacity but entirely paralysed apart from the flickering eye lid of his left eye – described to him by his doctors as ‘locked in syndrome’ – a bluntly apt description. Nevertheless the story tells of how using this one flickering eye lid Bauby dictates a biography, one that from the brief excerpts littered through the film is beautifully written and perfectly captures the resourcefulness of the human mind in adapting to such difficult circumstances.

Despite what could be construed as a weight bearing prospect, the means through Bauby which reconstructs a new outlook is similarly the means through which we are inspired. This is not an easy progression. The darker moments are unnervingly quiet, annoyance, desire or indeed any range of emotion are locked within – a tear the single means through which to convey any sentiment. Nevertheless, we the audience, lucky enough to have had this journey catalogued, get to experience the resonating humour, wit and strength of the man inside the diving bell.

This resourcefulness so too provides the rich canvas of techniques through which the events of the film are relayed. Much time is spent watching events through the operating eye, the audience locked in to the frustrations of the situation.  Only when a painstakingly slow means of communication is established can Bauby begin to reconnect with his new world. The people around him, become frequent and strong players in his struggle. Norms of the world around us are tied seamlessly into his dreams and waking hours, re-appreciated and revalued, all the more important now and especially so on the days when he doesn’t have a support team around him. He needs to reflect upon his life beforehand as well as construct distractions based on the richness of his life until the time of his stroke to cushion the moments within the diving bell. This release as per the title of the movie are represented by a butterfly.

What the film achieves is making the ordinary, extraordinary – its look being endlessly unique. Standard images, the beauty of which we may have become desensitised to, are given a new perspective, both left leaning and otherwise. The film is engaging and uplifting and there are the obvious nadirs at moments in the film but as a whole it is a beautifully constructed treatise of human fortitude.  

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly has thankfully been re-released in selected cinemas due to popular demand and there is no denying the great piece of film making it represents. A film to savour. It joins ‘There Will Be Blood’ as the second film to which I have given 5 stars since beginning a star rating.

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