2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

eng_fadi77 Ever imagined being a total cripple? No, not losing your ability to walk, but losing all your motor functions; no speaking, no scratching your knee, not even shaking your head to deter an irritating fly off your nose. Imagine being the center of a sea of consciousness, where you may sense and perceive the world around you, feel and think just like everyone else – but just that? Imagine your only way of communicating anything is the movement of one eyelid, and just one eyelid? Can one persist only on memory and imagination, of a life that has been but is no more? The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le scaphandre et le papillo), is based on a true story of Elle editor, Jean-Dominique Bauby. Jean-Do, as is called by his close ones, suffers from a stroke, and goes into deep coma, only to wake up with a rare disease called locked-in syndrome, described in the few lines above. A butterfly and a diving bell are likely the metaphors of freedom and appreciation of life, and the dire feeling of sinking, deeper and deeper into despair and helplessness. For a big part of the film, you experience the world only from Jean- Do's perspective, and you are left with no choice but to empathize; empathize in its broadest sense possible, to imagine being that person himself. There's a great distress, but there is humor too, and there is hope. The film is copious with astounding scenery, intense emotions, and the face-close-ups of beautiful French women. Watch it for yourself.

Python Hyena The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007): Dir: Julian Schnabel / Cast: Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Max Von Sydow, Marie-Josee Croze, Anne Consigny: Depressing yet provocative film about freedom of mind and body. It is the true story of Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby whose life halts when he awakens from a coma. He can hear and understand but unable to communicate. Director Julian Schnabel does a fantastic job at emphasizing immobility. The feeling isn't pleasant even for the viewer but that is precisely why the film works. Mathieu Amalric brilliantly plays off the paralysis. He uses his eyes to indicate communication but his fate is more a relief to the audience when they would likely prefer the same thing. Emmanuelle Seigner plays the mother of his three children who sticks by him thick and thin. Max Von Sydow plays his father whose own memory is fading. He can sympathize with his son but within his own disability he is at similar loss. Marie-Josee Croze displays the patience of a social worker. Her highlight is the techniques she teaches him in his process of effective communication. The role is fairly straight forward but Croze nails it creating a scene stealing performance. Anne Consigny also makes an appearance. Film gives strong sense of being paralyzed, which makes it more effective than pleasant. Score: 8 / 10

Seamus Harley This has to be one of the most amazing movies ever made. The cinematography is sublime as well as the soundtrack. While on the whole the movie is really moving, it is also quite humorous at times and it leaves you with an overwhelming feeling once you have watched it for the first time and tell everyone else about it. Mathieu Amalric's portrayal of Jean-Dominique Bauby is perfect and due to the way the film is shot, you can really identify the main character's emotional turmoil, frustrations and fantasies. Why this hasn't won more awards than it has is truly a mystery, definitely one of the finest French movies of all time if not the finest movie ever full stop.

justincward The POV story of a man who becomes paralysed by a stroke, and the book he eventually manages to write by blinking at his assistant. In spite of not being faithful to the book and being completely bourgeois, TDBATB powerfully puts across the terrible experience of Jean-Do. The main thrust of the story is of how his wife and mistress react to his condition, and how it's the mistress he really loves in the end. What's very good is Jean-Do's inexpressible anger and cynicism at the patronising and stupid reactions of most of the people he interacts with - in his head. What's not so good is how it's the sentimental story of a privileged narcissist, but the French always do that well.If this ever happens to me, however, I would like my speech therapist to use the system from Breaking Bad - you have a 5x5 matrix board of the alphabet and pick row, then column, to choose your letter. Jean-Do could have saved a good six months of people reciting the alphabet to him. French medical care, eh?