Mayor Ed Koch Goes To The Movies

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (+)

A wonderful movie by Julian Schnabel. The film is based on a book of the same title, written by a French magazine editor, Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffered a massive stroke in his early 40s.

After the stroke Jean-Do (Mathieu Amalric), as he is referred to in the movie, is totally paralyzed except for the ability to blink his eyes. He is able to hear but cannot speak. In the hospital, two nurses are assigned to assist him with his rehab. Marie (Olatz Lopez Garmendia, Schnabel's wife) is his speech therapist and Henriette (Marie-Josee Croze), encourages him to communicate by blinking once with his left eye if the answer is no and twice if the answer is yes. She recites the letters of the alphabet, and when she reaches the letter he wants to use to form a word, she stops and then begins again. Eventually he uses this means of communication to dictate his memoir to another woman, Claude (Anne Consigny). A phone is installed in his room so that friends and family members can call and speak with him. By blinking his eye, those in the room can give his response to the caller.

At times I wept for Jean-Do but never uncontrollably, because he always seemed to be in control. He is smart and was very witty in sharing his thoughts with the viewers.

Jean-Do is not married. He and his significant other, Celine (Emmanuelle Seigner), have three adorable children. There is also a mistress who calls him on the phone at the hospital. Remember when President Mitterrand was buried? His wife, mistress and out-of-wedlock daughter were all in attendance, and stood shoulder-to-shoulder at the cemetery, as it should be.

The film contains several flashbacks. One depicts Jean-Do's stroke as it occurred, and another poignant scene shows him before the stroke shaving his father, Laurent, portrayed by Max von Sydow who is 92 years old and himself an invalid. The unspoken love between father and son is evident.

I was particularly affected by the love and strength of Jean-Do and the nurses in the rehab program, because in 1987 I suffered a stroke. One doctor described my stroke to the press as "trivial." I interjected and said, "Trivial to you, not to me." I was lucky that my stroke took place in a part of the brain that does not deal with motor activity. The doctor said they don't know what that part of the brain did. While I had several occasions of paralysis during the first 24 hours, I ultimately had no permanent paralysis.

The title of film is discussed during the movie. Rather than my revealing its meaning to you, I'd suggest that you see this film and find out for yourself. (In French with English subtitles.)

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