At first, all we see are blurred images and sporadic darkness. Then, we realize we are looking through the eye of a man who is coming out of a coma. We hear his thoughts, vaguely see the frantic doctors and nurses observing him, and realize that he (we) cannot speak. We cannot move.
Director Julian Schnabel’s masterpiece is all about empathy—empathy for a man who once had it all as the editor of the French ELLE magazine and then saw it disappear when he suddenly contracted “locked-in syndrome.” Perfectly conscious but completely paralyzed, he can only communicate by blinking once for “yes” and twice for “no.”
The man we cinematically embody is the real-life Jean-Dominique Bauby (played by a sincere Mathieu Amalric), who wrote what would have been an un-filmable memoir in 1996 until Schnabel took it into his own hands. Schnabel wisely intersperses flashbacks in the third person of the successful and mobile Bauby throughout the film. Here, we see a self-indulgent man who parades a mistress behind his wife and kids. We observe him with models, set designs, and all the glamour that wrapped around him until locked-in syndrome wrapped around everything.
Later, Bauby is left with nothing but the will of an eye to ask forgiveness from his family, his friends, and himself. He does it one blink at a time. Bauby’s torso is unmoving like a diving bell under water, but his imagination can still flutter like a butterfly.
I have never seen a film like this in my blessed life of movie fascination. We can read all we want about paraplegia, stroke, and paralysis, and we can try our best to imagine the experience.
Director Schnabel puts us right there, giving us the most physical and emotional opportunity to empathize as a viewer. One blink at a time.
Have you seen it?
Reely Bernie Faves:
5. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
6. The Godfather Part II (1974)
8. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
10. Nosferatu (1922)
11. Pollock (2000)
12. Kicking and Screaming (1995)
13. Jaws (1975)
14. Fargo (1996)
16. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
20. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
23. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
24. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
25. Bambi (1942)
26. The Paradise Lost Trilogy (1996-2011)
27. Psycho (1960)
29. Swingers (1996)
30. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
31. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
32. Smoke (1995)
33. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
35. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
37. 1917 (2019)
42. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
43. The Greatest Showman (2017)
44. National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)
45. The Florida Project (2017)
Reely Bernie 
Never heard of it … but you have my attention. 😀
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It was one of my most beloved surprises when I started watching movies like my life depended on it. It still holds up 🙂 Thank you for saying hi and have a great week. We start school today. I’m staying positive, haha!
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I remember reading the book many moons ago and coming away with the feeling that if Jean-Dominique, knowing his impending horrendous predicament, was finding it hard to live in the moment then the rest of us all are doomed!
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I’ll have to read the book, but the fear you mention of completely unexpected lock-down of the entire body is indeed horrendous to think about. I’m grateful there is hope at the end.
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