“Le Scaphandre et le Papillon”

From the very first frame, you know that you are not about to witness a conventional heroic tale nor shall you be embarking on a simple inspirational journey. You feel claustrophobic and unable to move. Slowly but surely everything comes into focus and you realise where you are. You are in a hospital room and hospital staff surround you. Then you realize that you are not even you, you are seeing through the eyes of Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Almaric), the controversial editor of the French Elle magazine. You are trapped in his body, just as he is. He has been in a stroke-induced coma for three weeks and finds himself completely paralyzed, with the exception of his left eyelid. A neurologist tells him that he has a rare condition called “locked-in syndrome.” His body holds him back physically but his imagination and mind are intact. His cognitive function is retained, and that is after all more important than ones body, it allows ones soul to speak volumes. With his functioning eyelid, he managed to dictate his life-affirming autobiography titled “Le Scaphandre et le Papillon” which translates to “The Diving Bell and The Butterfly” in English, on which this heroic film by artist-turned-director Julian Schnabel is based.

While in his tragic state, Bauby’s speech therapist Henriette (Marie-Josée Croze) noticed that he could blink his fore mentioned left eyelid. She constructed a special alphabet for him in such a way that the letters were arranged according to their frequency of use. She would read these letters aloud and when she reached the letter Bauby wished to use, he would blink. In a way, she assisted in freeing him, allowing him to communicate with others and give more insight into his thoughts and feelings when his body would not allow him to. Dictating his autobiography took an incredible amount of patience and will power, not just on his part. Those around him were completely selfless and patient when even Bauby himself didn’t expect them to be. 

The way the autobiography had been written, from Bauby’s viewpoint, proved to be problematic when the decision was made to adapt the book to film. The only way the film would be able to retain any of the impact the book had would be to get the audience to feel exactly how Bauby felt, hence the captivating opening scenes. Schnabel knew this from the start and he ensured that the audience would be able to see and hear exactly what Bauby did, both in reality and in his imagination, and he was aided by South African-born screenwriter Ronald Harwood’s fascinating screenplay.

As everything comes into focus and we move out of Bauby’s body, we gain more insight about the man himself, not just his physical incapacity. He was still alive. He had things to say, feelings, memories and above all, a will to survive. Of course, in his initial and inevitable moment of panic he wanted to die. When everything came into focus for him as well as us he knew that his time on Earth was not over and he still had something to share. Writing his book gave him a reason to live and a reason to reconnect what he had lost when he was physically healthy – but detached from reality because of his disregard for life itself. We get hints of his past through flashbacks that are tied brilliantly into the film, outstanding editing indeed. We hear about him abandoning his wife and children when he runs away with his mistress. We see him meeting with his sickly father, Papinou (Max Von Sydow), who tells him that his leaving his wife Celine (Emmanuelle Seigner) was an idiotic thing to do. We see him in a time when he didn’t care much for life, as long as the ride was fun. Then the we see his ride come to an end when he is driving in the countryside and suddenly has a stroke. But it is clear that these are just fragments of what was. Not the end of a life, but the beginning of something more profound.

The performances in this film are genuine and not at all sentimental or patronizing. Almaric creates a man who we know to be a victim of a victor-less crime but he does not ever allow you to actually think him to be a victim. He portrays a man that was forced to change, as well as the man before this change. As he shows us who Bauby was before the stroke, you don’t feel disdain for this adulterous and cynical man, but you feel inspired by the how far he managed to come. He took into account the great amount of restraint and internal emotions he would have to convey, and gives on of the most moving and touching performances in a very long time. The rest of the cast are irreplaceable and equally great. Max von Sydow, as Bauby’s father, gives a truly heartbreaking turn as a man who is aging and a man who has lived, but now has to watch as his young son becomes a prisoner in his own body. His character is not able to see his son’s greatness the way the audience can, he only thinks about the insurmountable pain and suffering that he assumes his son is going through. We are given the impression that Bauby’s father is in greater pain than Bauby feels himself, and this only makes you feel even more sorry for Papinou. The women in Bauby’s life that he took for granted before his stroke are the ones that are at his side throughout his ordeal, and special mention must be made of the gorgeous Emmanuelle Seigner and Marie-Josée Croze’s performances.

Without Schnabel’s artistic direction and brutal honesty, the film could have become one message after another flashing before our eyes, but he stays true to the spirit of Bauby. There is not a hint of the film preaching at all, and the harrowing subject matter is matched with the dark humour Bauby expressed in his book. Schnanel’s unique vision is shared by cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, and a surreal and dreamlike palette is constructed, that can only be described as a true work of art. A masterpiece even.

Ten days after Bauby’s autobiography was published to great acclaim, he died of pneumonia. The impressionistic film immortalizes Jean-Do’s life, not just as a man suffering from a debilitating illness, not as a man who lost is ability to move and be free, but as a man who defied all odds and stopped wasting his life. He will always be remembered as a man who was able to break free from the diving bell that could very well have consumed his unquestionable humanity and intense human spirit and became, in almost every sense of the word, a butterfly.

Fatac Rating: *****

The Diving Bell and The Butterfly. Director: Julian Schnabel. Adapted from Jean-Dominique Bauby’s autobiography “Le Scaphandre et le Papillon” by Ronald Harwood. Cinematography by Janusz Kaminksi. Starring: Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josee Croze, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Max Von Sydow. Running Time: 112 minutes. Age Restriction: PG 13. USA 2007. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars. [A+]