The 36th Annual Film Series continues Sunday, March 18, 2 pm with The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, directed by Julian Schnabel, France/USA (2007), 112 min.
Viewing notes for The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
The autobiography of Jean-Dominque Bauby, Le Scaphandre et le Papillon was written through Baubyβs imagination and his ability to blink out spellings of words to an assistant who gradually recorded the manuscript beside his hospital bed. Director Schnabel (Before Night Falls, Basquiat) beautifully captures through visual symbolism, sound, and imaginative first-person camera work the experiences of Baubyβs rare medical condition, βlocked-in syndrome,β which was brought on by a stroke the successful editor of a fashion magazine experienced at the age of 42. Imprisoned in a paralyzed bodyβbut completely sound of mindβBauby must negotiate the mind/body relationship and find some sort of hope in his unfathomable isolation. Creativity ultimately helps him to reconcile his expectations for his life with the reality forced upon him, and what starts as a bleak and disturbing filmic experience from within his point-of-view metamorphoses into a thought-provoking and life-affirming sensory experience.
The Film Institute is supported by the Thatcher Hoffman Smith Endowment and OKCUβs Center for Interpersonal Studies through Film and Literature.
A discussion will follow the presentation for those who wish to stay.
Praise for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
βAnd so, curiously enough, a movie about deprivation becomes a celebration of the richness of experience, and a remarkably rich experience in its own right.β A.O. Scott, New York Times
βAt the end we are left with the reflection that human consciousness is the great miracle of evolution, and all the rest (sight, sound, taste, hearing, smell, touch) are simply a toolbox that consciousness has supplied for itself.β Roger Ebert
For more films in the 2017-2018 series, read more HERE.
