THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
RYAN: You saw “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” without me.
CAROLINE: It’s the new film from Julian Schnabel and it’s out today but only in limited release, so don’t look for it in your small town just yet.
RYAN: I really love Julian Schnabel. He directed “Before Night Falls” with Javier Bardem. How did he do this time around?
CAROLINE: I must admit that as I was watching this movie, I wasn’t sure how much I liked it. It’s a slow, very artsy film.
RYAN: Well, this just in, Julian Schnabel is an artist.
CAROLINE: Yes, and after the movie was over, I realized how beautiful it was and how glad I was to have seen it. It’s very moving and very well done. It’s based on the memoirs of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the former editor of French Elle, who had some crazy stroke and found himself in a hospital completely incapacitated.
RYAN: Ew.
CAROLINE: He literally could only move one eye, and was able to dictate his memoirs that way.
RYAN: You know what? I don’t want to see that.
CAROLINE: This is definitely not a film for everyone. It’s in French with sub-titles, and it’s a pretty grim story.
RYAN: It’s gotten several Spirit Award nominations, which leads me to believe it must be good.
CAROLINE: It’s very good; it’s just a niche film.
RYAN: As I said, Julian Schnabel started out as an artist and he likes to use film in a gritty, artistic way. How was the look of this film?
CAROLINE: There are some really beautiful beach scenes, but the movie is often shown through the perspective of Jean-Do, as they call him, and his one functional eye.
RYAN: Ew.
CAROLINE: It’s very cool, but also disturbing. You get to see his world as he’s trapped inside his body and unable to move. But there are also scenes from before the stroke, so you get to see him living his normal life. One thing I must warn the people about is the scene where the doctors have to sew up the eyelid of his unusable eye. They do it from Jean-Do’s point of view and it’s really gross. It made me squirrelly and squeamish in my seat.
RYAN: I’m queasy just hearing you talk about it. What’s your bottom line? If this movie is playing in your city, is it worth seeing?
CAROLINE: It’s an incredible story, and it’s beautifully shot and very well acted. So yes, you should see it; but only if you like Julian Schnabel and artsy films with sub-titles.
RYAN: I like all of those things.
CAROLINE: Then go see it.