Today’s movie is a biography with a scene that happens on April 23. Watch it tonight and enjoy.
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
Jean-Dominique Bauby wakes up from a three-week coma after he has had a stroke that has given him locked-in syndrome, where he is totally paralyzed, but totally aware. Bauby had been editor of the French edition of Elle magazine. His speech therapist devises a method of communication where she reads the letters of the alphabet and he blinks when she reaches the letter he is thinking of. The doctors have to sew his right eye shut, but he recovers sufficiently to use a wheelchair. He is visited by Celine, the mother of his children, to whom he is not married and Roussin, a friend to whom Bauby once gave up his seat on an airliner. The plane ended up being hijacked and Roussin was held hostage for four years. At first Bauby considers suicide to escape, but later uses his memory and imagination to escape the confines of his body. Bauby had a book contract to write a female version of the Count of Monte Cristo, but he now writes a memoir describing his life. Bauby remembers his 92-year-old father, who is trapped in his apartment because he can’t go down four floors to the street. Bauby’s children visit him. He imagines an erotic interlude with his secretary. Although not a believer, Bauby has a network of people praying for him. He recalls a trip that he took to Lourdes and imagines an encounter with the Empress Eugenie. Then Celine learns about his mistress. On April 23, 1996 [1:35:20 to 1:35:41] his friends and family celebrate Bauby’s birthday. Bauby remembers his last visit to see his children and his stroke. The book is finished, but he dies ten days later.
Producers - Kathleen Kennedy and Jon Kilik
Director - Julian Schnabel
Screenwriter - Ronald Harwood
Awards – The film was nominated for the Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing and Best Cinematography at the 80th Academy Awards
Runtime – 1 hour 52 minutes
Released – May 22, 2007
Starring -
Mathieu Amalric as Jean-Dominique Bauby
Emmanuelle Seigner as Céline Desmoulins
Anne Consigny as Claude Mendibil
Marie-Josée Croze as Henriette Durand
Olatz López Garmendia as Marie Lopez
Patrick Chesnais as Dr. Lepage
Max von Sydow as Mr. Bauby Sr.
Isaach De Bankolé as Laurent
Niels Arestrup as Roussin
Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015
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