We become Jean-Dominique from the beginning, played wonderfully by Mathieu Amalric, in this point-of-view subtitled masterpiece, living our last days in a French hospital with only gorgeous rolling hillsides, countryside, beaches, and glaciers to look at. As the editor of Elle we can only expect a lifestyle of luxury and also not be surprised by the amorous affairs of such a charismatic figure.

Guardian Angel: The author tells of Sandrine, his speech therapist, who has developed the communication code for him and is helping him regain vocal language. He listens to his daughter, Céleste, his father, and Florence speak to him on the phone but he is unable to reply. GAUDEMAR, Antoine de. "Vagabondages immobiles d'un mort toujoursvivant. Totalement paralysé mais lucide, Jean-Dominique Bauby a "dicté" son livre en clignant d'une paupière. ""Le scaphandre et le papillon"". Ed. Robert Laffont". Libération. This hurts. Its an insult to a serious watcher and it dilutes the core of the film. These side stories are all observed to some extent by our captive eye. If they had appeared in the book as integrated memory they might have helped the film. If they had been treated like Ruiz treated Proust. We almost have some of this with some Victorian fantasies with his secretary. But only glancing, as it were.A speech therapist and physical therapist try to help Bauby become as functional as possible. Bauby cannot speak, but he develops a system of communication with his speech and language therapist by blinking his left eye as she reads a list of letters to laboriously spell out his messages, letter by letter. How many people know of Jean-Dominique Bauby, former editor of Elle fashion magazine? It doesn't matter. But what does matter is experiencing his ability to discern, his articulate vision of beauty. Not as science, but as an education of the senses (and this is a sensuous and evocative film). There is a seamless blend of cinematography with the music to enhance the inner life of the main character, the viewer is at one with his inner frustration, his soaring imagination, his follies, faults and lusts. At times it is humorous, at others there are indelible vignettes - one of the long term partner (beautfully played by EmmanuelleSeigner) assisting his lover to communicate with him by telephone. Another is the incredible Max Von Sydow in a riveting performance as the elderly heart-broken father. Bauby, Jean-Dominique (23 June 1998). The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 0375701214.

Thomas, Rebecca. Diving Bell movie's fly-away success, BBC, February 8, 2008. Accessed June 5, 2008. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly study guide contains a biography of Jean-Dominique Bauby, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.It is quite amazing how positively expressed he is given the untimely tragedy that has overtaken his life. That, I suppose, is his survival instinct. di Giovanni, Janine (30 November 2008). "The real love story behind The Diving Bell and the Butterfly". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 April 2017 . Retrieved 13 December 2016. After 20 days in a coma, Bauby awoke into a body which had all but stopped working: only his left eye functioned, allowing him to see and, by blinking it, to make clear that his mind was unimpaired. Almost miraculously, he was soon able to express himself in the richest detail: dictating a word at a time, blinking to select each letter as the alphabet was recited to him slowly, over and over again. In the same way, he was able eventually to compose this extraordinary book. Although he has a decent enough relationship with his physical therapist, Baudry's deeper relationship grows with his speech therapist. It had been her idea to come up with some kind of workable code that he could use for communication and now he is beginning to work on regaining his actual speech with her too. He is becoming frustrated that he is unable to converse with his loved ones; he can listen, but cannot say anything in return. He also listens to his father on the telephone. Their relationship has changed because before his stroke his father was the weaker and the more infirm, and the author helped to care for him, but now, his father is far more able to care for himself than Bauby is.

Jean-Dominique Bauby (23 April 1952 – 9 March 1997) was a French journalist, author and editor of the French fashion magazine Elle. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was published in France on 7 March 1997. HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION 2008 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2007". goldenglobes.org. 13 December 2007. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007 . Retrieved 5 January 2008.

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it is all very pollyanerish and trite really . his realationship with his children and their mother seems superficial and distant . The story is told through the view from Jean's left eye and reaction in his mind after the stroke. This pulls the audience and the inner world of Jean closer, and audience could have a feel of putting themselves into Jean's shoes. From the effort the cast and crew puts in the movie, we can tell that the movie is follow everything accordingly to the book, without any adjustments. After working with therapists, Jean-Dominique has an unusual request--he wants his therapist to call a publisher. It seems that he (who was the real life editor of 'Elle' magazine) had an existing contract to write a book--and now he wanted to dictate his memoirs! To do this, he had to use a painfully slow methods involving blinks to spell out every word of the text! Long, complicated but, amazingly, quite possible--resulting an an actual book "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"--which also became the title of this movie.