The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) on Netflix
Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editor of Elle, wakes from a coma in a Berck-sur-Mer hospital with locked-in syndrome, almost totally paralyzed, able to communicate only by blinking his left eye.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb8.0/10113,265 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes94%
Trailer
Plot summary
A massive stroke leaves Jean-Do, forty-three and editor-in-chief of Elle, in a hospital at Berck-sur-Mer after three weeks in a coma. His mind is intact, but his body is almost completely paralyzed and he can speak only in his thoughts; his left eye is the one muscle he can still control. A speech therapist, Henriette, recites the alphabet and he blinks at the letter he wants, spelling out words. Céline, the mother of his three children, visits, along with his lover Inès, his father Papinou, and a friend, Roussin. Bauby has a contract for a book, and he chooses to dictate a memoir of the life he now lives, with an assistant, Claude, writing down what he spells.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Johnny Depp was originally slated to star as Bauby in an English-language version at Universal, with the choice of Julian Schnabel as director recommended by Depp; Depp dropped out over scheduling conflicts with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and Universal withdrew, with Pathé taking up the project two years later.
- Julian Schnabel resisted pressure to make the film in English and learned French to shoot it in French, believing the book's language worked better in the original; screenwriter Ronald Harwood says Pathé wanted both English and French versions until Schnabel decided on French, as two versions would be impossibly expensive.
- Several key aspects of Bauby's personal life were fictionalised, most notably his relationships with the mother of his children and his girlfriend; in reality it was his girlfriend of several years, not his estranged girlfriend, who stayed with him while he lay almost inanimate in his hospital bed.
- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was nominated for four Academy Awards, but because it was co-produced by an American company it was ineligible for the Best International Feature Film category.
