"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" tells the story of the former editor-in-chief of "ELLE" who was paralyzed due to a stroke and completed his autobiographical novel with the help of everyone.
The scene at the beginning of the film is to simulate his sight - barely opening his eyes after a stroke. Since then, a third of the pages have been composed of such shots. What is different from the general subjective lens is that because of his stroke, his vision range is limited, so the people and objects in the lens are close-ups. Due to the incomplete and uncontrollable physical touch, the parts of his body that can still have touch are portrayed as particularly sensitive. Such as the eyes, such as the mind.
The world he can see is shrunk, and his perception of light is particularly acute, occasionally trance-like. But his heart became clearer. It’s a pity to stay away from Vanity Fair, hate myself for not being able to take care of children anymore, yearn for death, and long for expressing myself...
The film is intertwined in time and space, his present, his past, his imagination, and his dreams are intertwined with each other, There is no sense of complexity and indistinguishability, and they are smoothly connected to each other.
The uniqueness of his experience is that even if he cannot write or speak, he can accurately express his heart. And this way is hard work - the letters are read by the person who takes care of him, and he tells them with a wink which one he chooses.
While narrating his own experiences, he became aware of the fashion circle he was immersed in in the past, and regretted the missed love and family relationships; and he also had a relationship with the girl who helped him record and organize the manuscript. In his imagination, he and the girl enjoy food and love freely.
His inner self-monologue runs through the entire film, telling what he really thinks, mocking others and self-deprecating, his words are witty, and he doesn't hide the interests of men. What's interesting is that even in the most uncomfortable moments, when he was physically tortured, he still maintained an interest in women's bodies.
Director Julian Schnabel's wanton and flying imagination fills the entire film, allowing the protagonist's fantasy and dream passages to truly convey desire. A diving bell means a bound body, and a butterfly means a free heart. In the film, the diving bell sinks into the deep sea again and again, with only dim light on the bottom of the sea, and the bell body is cumbersome; the butterfly has an extraordinary sense of lightness, and can cross the boundaries of time and space, go anywhere imaginable at will, and witness any moment.
Julian Schnabel is one of America's most famous postmodern painters, whose paintings are free and uninhibited. "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is his third biographical film. The protagonists of his first two works are painters and writers.
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