The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a visually stunning film, delivering the tragic story of Jean-Dominique ‘Jean-Do’ Bauby. Mid-career, as editor of Elle magazine, Jean-Do suffers a severe stroke and winds up with ‘locked-in syndrome’, completely paralysed physically (with the exception of his left eyelid) but completely functioning mentally. (The film is based on Jean-Do’s memoirs, written whilst in this paralysed state. Painstakingly, a transcriber would list the letters of the alphabet in order of frequency until Jean-Do blinked for the letter he wanted.)"

"Most compelling in its attempts to re-create the experience of paralysis onscreen, gorgeously lensed pic morphs into a dreamlike collage of memories and fantasies, distancing the viewer somewhat from Bauby's consciousness even as it seeks to take one deeper."

"A bracingly unsentimental adaptation of a memoir of a paralysed man is the most dynamic film in years."

"Being such a fan of the book, I just couldn't see cinematic justice being done. But I needn't have worried. The emotional intensity of this true story is not lost in translation, and while I still really recommend reading the book as well, don't let this film pass you by."

"Simultaneously uplifting and melancholy, suffused with an unexpected sense of possibility as much as the inevitable sense of loss."

"Schnabel's film is so steeped in the visual that it is surely the purest of cinema."

"A poignant reflection on what it means to be alive and, visually, a true cinematic experience."

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le Scaphandre et le Papillon) is a stunning achievement. The American-French film-makers have made a remarkable film from a well-loved book that at first glance would seem unfilmable."