The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Synopsis
On December 8, 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, a journalist and father of two children, suffered a stroke which plunged him into a deep coma. When he regained conciousness, all his motor body functions had deteriorated. He’d been struck by what is known in the medical profession as “locked-in syndrome:” he could no longer move, speak nor even breathe without medical assistance. The only part of his inert body capable of moving was his left eye. This eye became his link with the world, with others, with life. He’d blink once to say “yes,” twice to say “no.” With his single eye, he’d focus visitors’ attention on letters of the alphabet dictated to him and form words, sentences, entire pages. With his eye, he wrote this book The Bell Jar and the Butterfly, for which, each morning during long weeks, he’d memorized sentences before dictating them.
Credits
Director (1)
Actors (24)
Production and distribution (4)
- Executive Producer : Pathé Production
- Co-productions : France 3 Cinéma, Pictanovo
- Film exports/foreign sales : Pathé Entertainment (UK)
- French distribution : Pathé Films
Full credits (20)
- Screenwriter : Ronald Harwood
- Director of Photography : Janusz Kaminski
- Music Composer : Paul Cantelon
- Editor : Juliette Welfling
- Sound recordists : Jean-Paul Mugel, Francis Wargnier, Dominique Gaborieau
- Costume designer : Olivier Bériot
- Author of original work : Jean-Dominique Bauby
- Producer : Jon Kilik
- Associate Producer : Léonard Glowinski
- Line Producer : Pierre Grunstein
- Sound Assistant : Yves-Marie Omnès
- Assistant Operators : Benoît Pain, Steeven Petitteville
- Production Manager : François-Xavier Decraene
- Press Attaché (film) : Dominique Segall
- Sound Editor : Francis Wargnier
- Assistant editors : Marcela Figueroa, Nelly Ollivault, Margot Meynier, Marie-Pierre Frappier
- Production Designers : Éric Michel, Laurent Ott
- Still Photographer : Étienne George
- Unit Production Manager : Stephan Guillemet
- Post-production supervisor : Virginia Anderson
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Technical details
- Type : Feature film
- Genres : Fiction
- Sub-genre : Drama, Biopic
- Production language : French
- Production country : France
- Original French-language productions : Yes
Box-office & releases
Box Office
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TV broadcasting
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French-speaking Switzerland
News & awards
News (22)
Selections (23)
Awards (4)
Cesar Awards - French film industry awards
France, 2008
César Award for Best Actor : Mathieu Amalric
César Award for Best Editing : Juliette Welfling
Golden Globe Awards
United States, 2008
Best Foreign Language Film
Best Director - Motion Picture : Julian Schnabel
San Sebastian International Film Festival (SSIFF)
Spain, 2007
Audience Award - Award to The European Film
