The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Short description
Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editor of the French edition of Elle magazine, suffers a stroke at the age of 43 that leaves him almost entirely paralysed. His mind remains intact, but he cannot move or speak; the only part of his body he still controls is his left eye. A therapist arranges a way for him to communicate by blinking that eye as an assistant recites the alphabet, and the film follows Bauby as he uses this slow method to compose a memoir about his inner life under the condition known as locked-in syndrome. Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josée Croze, Anne Consigny, Patrick Chesnais and Niels Arestrup appear alongside Mathieu Amalric, who plays Bauby.
Julian Schnabel directed the film from a screenplay by Ronald Harwood, with Kathleen Kennedy, Jon Kilik and Léonard Glowinski producing. It is the third feature Schnabel directed, arriving between Before Night Falls and At Eternity's Gate in his filmography, and it was made for about 14 million dollars.
The film was released in 2007 and took roughly 20 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 8 out of 10 from around 113,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 7.6 out of 10 from a much smaller number of votes. A critics' rating of 8.8 out of 10 from 176 reviews places it above both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film's screenplay is based on the autobiographical book by Jean-Dominique Bauby.
- Julian Schnabel learned French in order to make this film.
- For almost 40 minutes from the beginning of the film, the narrative is from the perspective of and through the eyes of the main character.
- In reality, Jean-Dominique Bauby had two children, not three. The filmmakers couldn't decide between two of the three remaining candidates after the selection process and ultimately took all three.
- In the film, Bauby is visited in the hospital by a friend named Russen (in the book his name is Jean-Paul K.). Bauby feels guilty towards him because he once gave Jean-Paul his plane ticket, resulting in him being taken hostage in Beirut (Lebanon). This man was actually held hostage in Beirut for some time, but not because Bauby gave him his ticket. In the book, Bauby apologizes for never contacting his friend after his release from captivity. Moreover, the book doesn't mention them ever meeting after the stroke Bauby suffered.
- After the film was completed, it became definitively known that Bauby's partner, not the mother of his children, was constantly at his side after his stroke. It’s impossible to say why the filmmakers decided to switch these women around. Regardless, it was his partner who helped him write the book, and it was in her arms that he died, while the mother of his children was in the United States with a friend.
- The main character watches a football match that took place on May 24, 1997, after he was already deceased. This is the famous Lyon vs. Marseille game (8-0), the final round of the 1996/97 French championship. The video shows the first minute of the match: at the moment the nurse turns off the television, the home team scores the first goal.
- Initially, the script was written in English, and Johnny Depp was considered for the role of Jean-Dominique Bauby, but he left the project due to filming in Gore Verbinski’s adventure film "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (2007). For some time, the filmmakers considered offering the lead role to Gary Oldman, but Julian Schnabel managed to convince the bosses of the Parisian studio "Pathe" to change the language of the film from English to French and not deviate from Bauby's autobiographical book.
- In 2006, the screenplay for the film ended up on the "Black List" of the best unproduced screenplays.
- Producer Steven Schneider included the film "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" in his list of "100 Films to Watch Before You Die".
- To "get into the skin" of the main character, director Julian Schnabel filmed "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" in the same hospital where Bauby was treated. He spoke with the orderlies who cared for the patient, and filmed some scenes on the balcony where Bauby was taken, and on the beach where his loved ones took him.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
