13th Feb 08

What:
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

When:
Opens Feb 14

Where:
Cinema Nova
Kino Dendy

Watch the trailer:
Here

Win:
We have 5 double passes and one copy of the book to give away (ie: someone can have a double and the book!). To enter, email win@threethousand.com.au with the subject line 'unfilmable right?'

Are you ready for nightmare fodder? Locked-In Syndrome is a rare disorder where you can't move, can't speak, can't swallow, can't do anything - except blink.

Journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby wrote a memoir about this experience called The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, dictated by painstakingly blinking out each individual letter. It sounds unfilmable, right? Painter-turned-director Julian Schnabel, previously behind the cavalcade of hipster cameos that is Basquiat, here turns his artist's eye to Jean-Dominique's story.

As we're inside Jean-Dominique's head, we hear him cracking inaudible jokes and feel his frustration as he leers at his female physical therapists, all while seeing his vision dip expressionistically in and out of focus, of dreams, and of memory.

Soon this fascinating point of view drops away, however, and the film becomes a somewhat more traditional struggle-against-impossible-odds drama. It's still a genuinely moving journey - Mathieu Amalric's performance as Jean-Dominique makes him real, and impossible not to like - but the American remake could star Robin Williams in his serious-beard-mode.

Whatever follows, Schnabel's opening act is truly arresting, and the most beautiful nightmare you'll have while awake.

By Martyn Pedler

Format: Cinema

Mood: Make a therapy appointment now

Keywords: Julian Schnabel, Film