Moving exploration of the human spirit
The true story that inspired this movie is well-known. Jean-Dominque Bauby, the French editor of "Elle" magazine, suffered a massive stroke that left him completely paralyzed with a condition called "Locked-in" syndrome. When he came out of his coma, he had recovered all his mental faculties but was completely paralyzed with the exception of his ability to blink his left eyelid.
His therapist developed a method for him to communicate through blinking and he was able to dictate an entire book in this manner.
I thought this movie might be depressing but it really was not. I found it profoundly uplifting. It took Bauby 200,000 blinks to dictate the book. Each word took two minutes. From the excerpts we hear through Bauby's voice-over, it is extremely beautiful. What a heroic act -- to overcome one's self-pity and face reality in such challenging circumstances.
The movie starts as if the viewer is looking through Bauby's eyes, though it later widens out, and it returns to that at the end. The acting and photography are excellent. The director decided to film the movie in the same hospital where Bauby had been treated so we see the scene he describes from the balcony where they wheel him from time to time.
Mathieu Amalric as Bauby is extraordinary. In the DVD extra material (which I rarely watch but in this case is interesting) he describes how difficult it was to hold himself completely still when he is not in fact paralysed. There are also nice performances from Anne Consigny as the therapist and Emmanuelle Seigner as Bauby's ex-partner and the mother of his three children. Max von Sydow gives a tremendous performance as Bauby's father.
This movie explores what it means to be human and how resilient the human spirit can be. I strongly recommend it.

Life worth living
I know that this film is meant to be inspirational, but I found it difficult to watch. It is a story of French magazine "Elle"'s editor who suffers a stroke that leaves him paralized so that only his left eye has any movement. With the help of his physical and speach therapists he learns to communicate by blinking. It is that way of communication that helped him create the book of the same title as this movie. Film explores what it must be for a person to be locked inside his own body. Completely aware of surroundings, conversations taking place, people around and yet unable to talk, move or even blow away the fly that is on his nose while he is helplessly strapped to his therapeutic table. It takes full staff of doctores, therapists, nurses and nursing aides to feed, bathe and care for him around the clock. In spite of the terrible affliction, we have reservations about this man who still seems selfish, sexist, insensitive to women who love him, not around his children enough. But it seems that writing this autobiography was his life's legacy to not only his immediate family but world. Stricken by stroke at age 42 he dies almost a year later only a few days after his book was published. If one has not thought about living will, power of attorney and choices we need to make at the times when something terrible like this happens to any of us, I guarantee that one will start thinking about these things after watching this movie.

One word - WOW!
Before I knew it, I was already an hour into the movie when I glanced to see how much time had elapsed. This is one movie that deserves all the cliches that are so overused today: Riveting, powerful, moving. I'm not into current movies, but I'm glad I made an exception here because it restores my faith in the filmmaking industry that original movies (or, in this case, adaptations from books) can not only be made, but in a way that keeps you watching and has the experience stay with you.

Shooting the movie from the perspective of the late Jean-Dominique Bauby was beyond brilliant. It wasn't done in a contrived way, but, rather, in a way that you felt you were right there with Bauby in a body that, indeed, became a prison.

Other reviewers on this page have covered just about everything regarding the film, but I will put my hat in the ring and say this is one movie that deserves putting aside almost two hours to watch. Beyond excellent job on the part of everyone associated with this film! - Donna Di Giacomo

Beautiful film
Beautiful film. I'm grateful the filmmaker decided to go against the original plan to shoot it as an English-language film and instead shoot it in French.

After seeing this true story about the last months of a SEVERELY disabled person, it will be a long time before I complain about the problems in my own life.

An inspiring story.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
This is an awesome story of a man who, rather than give up on life, manages to write his story in a most poetic manner. I should have been sad about his situation, but instead I clapped my hands at his resolve.