The Diving Bell and Butterfly Review

No one has ever made a movie quite like this, but this true story of Jean-Dominique Dauby is just as unique. Dauby’s life is literally turned inside-out when he falls victim to a severe stroke and becomes totally paralyzed except for movement in one eye. The director Julian Schnabel takes this same inside-out approach with the film, putting us in Dauby’s shoes to the point where you are literally squirming to run out of the theater at times. Thankfully Schnabel, the music, and the cast (with a wonderful cameo by Max von Sydow) paint a rich canvas through Dauby’s impossible world. Schnabel’s past films, Basquiat and Before Night Falls, were excellent, and he seems only to be getting better.  I’m not sure I can sit through this one again, but this is unlike anything you’ve ever seen, creating a sublime new cinematic experience. Rating:9/10