At first glance, Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly seems doomed to be a depressing tale of loss, regret and heartache. The film triumphs in presenting audiences with a respectful and honest portrait, and though sad, succeeds in becoming 2007's most powerful and uplifting work of cinematic art.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is the devastating true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, who in 1995 at age 43 suffered a cerebro-vascular accident (a massive stroke) that rendered him almost completely paralyzed. Except for his left eyelid, Bauby was incapable of any movement or verbal communication struck with what the medical community calls "locked-in syndrome." Bauby equates the feeling with being trapped in an old-fashioned diving bell. With nothing but memories and his imagination, Bauby was trapped in his own body, motionless in his bed at the Marine Hospital of Berck-sur-Mer in northern France. Through a code developed by his beautiful young therapist, Bauby was able to silently dictate, letter by letter, a memoir of his struggle to a publisher's assistant over a fourteen-month period. Bauby died in 1997, only two days after the book was published.

More over at Athens Exchange.