The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (2007) - Sept. 13, 2007
About a magazine editor who had some kind of stroke and subsequently suffered a rare form of paralysis which left him unable to do anything but blink with his left eye, this was a reasonably well made film, but I can't say that I found it particularly entertaining. There were some things I liked about the film -- the opening series of POV shots did a good job establishing the grim claustrophobia of the character's new post-stroke world, and there were a few effective scenes (the scene towards the end, where the main character has his stroke while in the car with his son, was powerful and a definite standout), but for the most part I found this film oddly unengaging. It doesn't help that the movie is visually unappealing, thanks (I can only assume) to Janusz Kaminski. Here he takes all the stylistic quirks that have given Spielburg's films over the last decade or so their distinctive look, and multiplies them tenfold -- the film has a muggy, washed out look and an unappealing colour palette. It's pretty ugly looking, for the most part. And while the protagonist's plight is interesting for the first little while, it soon becomes clear that he just isn't a very interesting character. Maybe it would have been more effective if it were shorter, but after the hundredth time listening to the man's assistant recite the alphabet in order of use, I was tired of it. **