The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

2007 · directed by Julian Schnabel

Rating

84/100

Hit

yes

Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor-in-chief of French fashion bible Elle magazine, has a devastating stroke at age 43. The damage to his brain stem results in locked-in syndrome, with which he is almost completely paralyzed and only able to communicate by blinking an eye. Bauby painstakingly dictates his memoir via the only means of expression left to him.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007), directed by Julian Schnabel, rates 84/100 — a hit. See how its director, cast and crew rate across their careers.

Cast

• Mathieu Amalric
• Emmanuelle Seigner
• Marie-Josée Croze
• Anne Consigny
• Patrick Chesnais
• Niels Arestrup
• Olatz López Garmendia
• Jean-Pierre Cassel
• Marina Hands
• Max von Sydow

Crew

• Janusz Kamiński — Director of Photography
• Juliette Welfling — Editor
• Paul Cantelon — Original Music Composer
• Ronald Harwood — Screenplay

More from Julian Schnabel

1. Before Night Falls (2000) — 73/100
2. At Eternity's Gate (2018) — 73/100
3. Basquiat (1996) — 67/100
4. Miral (2010) — 49/100
5. In the Hand of Dante (2026) — 44/100

How these numbers work: Methodology