This 2007 French film by Julian Schnabel, based on the book by Jean-Dominique "Jean-Do" Bauby, is a beautiful film with fantastic camera work and some amazing performances. The movie is about Bauby, editor-in-chief for ELLE, who suffered a disabilitating stroke at the age of 43. He wakes up in a hospital with what is called "locked-in syndrome", completely paralyzed save for one eye. Jean-Do is played masterfully by Mathieu Almaric, and shows us how he adjusts to his cruel fate. Prior to the stroke he had been a bit of a playboy, and had problems with his family, and social life. He is not able to communicate and has left a slew of tattered relationships that he is not able to fix in his current state. He quickly learns that only one of his eyes functions properly. How this is dealt with, in a scene not for the squeamish, is nothing short of cinema magic.
Jean-Do eventually begins speech therapy. His therapist, Henriette, played by Marie-Josèe Croze, a bit of a dead ringer for Naomi Watts, helps him develop a new way of communicating by blinking and using a system that includes the most frequently used letters in the alphabet. Jean-Do fights this at first, feeling sorry for himself, frustrated at not being able to function properly anymore and feeling disdain for those around him. Eventually he learns to keep going and with the help of his therapist, finds a way to contact his publicist to see about writing his memoirs. All the while we get flashbacks of what used to be, when he was on top of the world, and succeeding at making his important relationships fail. One of the main relationships that he seems to cherish and nurture, is the one with his father, played by Max Von Sydow. Who only has a small part in the movie, which he plays beautifully, but, it definitely has an impact on the viewer and the movie itself.
The acting in this movie is a big factor of what makes it work, but the other big part of it is the work by cinematographer, Jamuz Kaminski. Most of this film is shown from the point of view of Jean-Do. The blurry camera work, which is mostly shown a bit askew, lends to the frustration the viewer feels for the main character. You, in effect, feel trapped and frustrated as well.
I wouldn't want to belittle this film by calling it a message film, but, it definitely makes you think twice about what you haven't done with your life, and begs the question, "What are you waiting for?"
On a side note, this film was originally to be made by Universal with Johnny Depp starring in the lead role. Universal dropped it, and Mr. Depp had to return to the set of the final Pirates film.
1 comment:
Excellent review of a most enticing movie.
In my opinion the camera (wo)man in this should've been casted as one of the main actors, the blurring effects were effective and truly enhanced the claustrophobia that grabs you by the feathers , especially at those moments where you are literally watching the nurse's opulent bossom and just feel the horror this guy is going through.
He was obviously a stereotypically French Womanizer with a considerable intellect and charm. It is easy to empathize with this guy and especially if you keep in mind the will-power he exhibited to tell his story it could potentially devastate you as the film fades out and leaves behind a black screen and a deep profound silence.
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