Okay, so I didn't use the original French title-- Le scaphandre et le papillon-- in the title bar because I didn't want everyone to stop reading since, yes, I'm already in to the foreign movies. Of course, now that I've told you this fact so early means that I just lost 28 percent of my reading population to the television or Facebook. LOL. Kidding, guys. You're all better than that. Probably.
I can honestly say that I had no intention of watching another movie today, and the reason I decided to watch and write about a second one today is not actually to get "ahead in the count" (is that baseball jargon? God help me if it is...), but because I was bored out of my gourd lesson planning for my first week back at school. I needed a pick-me-up, and since I wasn't about to leave the house (one day they'll attach a moniker to me that includes the one word that describes me best: recluse. Haha.) I decided to consult my list, consult my DVD collection, and choose TDBatB. (I also considered Elmer Gantry, but I was slightly more in the mood to watch a more-recent film than another classic. Also, EG is about 30 minutes longer and since it was getting late as it is, I went this route instead.)
A little background I found interesting: as it turns out the French have their own word for a diving bell: un scaphandre. Thank God, except since I had no idea what a diving bell was before I looked it up it didn't matter a whole hell of a lot... As it turns out, a diving bell is a heavy, bell-shaped instrument lowered to the ocean bottom that is used to transport scuba divers beneath the surface. Well that... clears it up? Obviously, the term is metaphorical and having seen the movie, the title actually does make sense, in addition to it being pretty cool sounding.
The movie is visually stunning. Its director, Julian Schnabel was one of those rare cases where a person gets a Best Director nomination without his film getting as much acclaim. Well, it is hard for the Academy to recognize true amazingness sometimes. This was the year, after all, that the very good No Country for Old Men beat the spectacular There Will Be Blood for the top prize.
Our first scenes are of a man waking up from a coma and it becomes clear seconds late that the speech we hear cannot be heard by the doctors and orderlies; rather, he is paralyzed nearly completely. He is able to move his eyes only, and two young women-- a speech therapist and a physical therapist-- are called in to help him in his recuperation.
What we are allowed to see are the actual happenings of the patient (the movie is based on a true, autobiographical story of Elle editor Jean-Do(minique) Bauby), the history and character development he allows us to see, and his vivid imagination. All three parts combine to form a magnificent story that truly, efficiently captures the power of words. Perhaps this was a reason I so took to this movie. I can honestly say that it is the single-best movie I have ever seen that relied heavily on a chart arranged by the frequency of the letters of the alphabet in the French-- nay, any!-- language. E S A R I N... and on it goes. Furthermore, I submit this movie as proof that my assumption was correct; the least commonly used letter in the French alphabet: W.
My final word on the movie (other than you should all totally see this as soon as you're able) is that the acting is superb. Mathieu Amalric = real acting talent. He convinced me of his emotions in a single movement of one eye many times. And you can't help but sympathize with Emmanuelle Seigner, the mother of her children with Jean-Do especially as she dictates and translates messages for him near the end of the movie. My favorite character in the film, though, is Claude (a female), whose responsibility is to painstakingly write down each letter as Jean-Do "says" it. It is in a scene with the two of them on a boat that the title is brought forth, in beautiful and poetic language.
My score: 9/10
(And yes, there will be movies that earn lower scores in the future, I can guarantee it. I'm too picky for it never to happen. :D)
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