2nd October 2008
Directed by: Julian Schnabel
Staring: Mathieu Amalric & Emmanuelle Seigner
France 2007
A brilliant, uncomfortable and unrelenting portrayal of the fate of 43 year old Dominique Bauby, editor of Elle magazine, who suffered a catastrophic stroke which left him paralysed.
He ‘wrote’ the memoir on which the film is based by blinking to convey each letter.
We see not only what Bauby can see, but what he thinks, as we learn of his stirring, profound reflection on his own life before his stroke.
The film conveys sadness but has a spiritual charge running through it which is exhilarating viewing.
Arguably one of the great films of this decade, so far.