Tonight we went to see The Diving Bell and the Butterfly at the Clyde. It was a very good movie, disturbingly realistic to the experience of a paralyzed stroke victim. If you haven't heard, the movie is about an Elle magazine editor who suffers a stroke at age 42, and is completely paralyzed except for one eyelid.
He then goes on to write a book about his new life. The movie is the realization of the book, and does a fine job portraying his vision and outlook. I particularly enjoyed the scenes with Jean-Do's father, played by Max Von Sydow; Max does a fantastic job in an emotional part.
The only part of the movie I didn't really enjoy was the cinematography. It was too 'arty' for me, particularly the scenes dealing with Jean-Do's memories of his former life. I understand the concept of using hand-held shots to portray imperfect recollections, but I felt that since the main camerawork was necessarily shot point-of-view, that the flashbacks should have been idealized rather than degraded. Even with its faults, the movie is well worth seeing, and deserved the full theatre experience. It's playing one more day at the Clyde, so grab some tissues and get out there.
Single Shot
Movies on Whidbey Island.
1 comment:
I loved "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly", but the movie I'd rather see is "My Stroke of Insight", which is the amazing bestselling book by Dr Jill Bolte Taylor. It is an incredible story and there's a happy ending. She was a 37 year old Harvard brain scientist who had a stroke in the left half of her brain. The story is about how she fully recovered, what she learned and experienced, and it teaches a lot about how to live a better life. Her TEDTalk at TED dot com is fantastic too. It's been spread online millions of times and you'll see why!
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