“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” [AKA: Scaphandre et le papillon, Le] tells the story Elle France editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who, in 1995 at the age of 43, suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire body, except his left eye. Using that eye to blink out his memoir, Bauby eloquently described the aspects of his interior world, from the psychological torment of being trapped inside his body to his imagined stories from lands he’d only visited in his mind.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is the remarkable true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric), a successful and charismatic editor-in-chief of French Elle, who believes he is living his life to its absolute fullest when a sudden stroke leaves him in a life- altered state. While the physical challenges of Bauby’s fate leave him with little hope for the future, he begins to discover how his life’s passions, his rich memories and his newfound imagination can help him achieve a life without boundaries.
Production notes provided by Miramax Films.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Starring: Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josée Croze, Anne Consigny, Marina Hands
Directed by: Julian Schnabel
Screenplay by: Ronald Harwood
Release: November 30, 2007
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for nudity, sexual content and some language.
Studio: Miramax Films
Box Office Totals
Domestic: $6,003,227 (30.6%)
Foreign: $13,613,995 (69.4%)
Total: $19,617,222 (Worldwide)