Will Clegg
Veteran
Saw this over the weekend - fantastic story and really great cinematography. Julian Schnabel may well be a better filmmaker than he is a painter.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
- Thread starter Will Clegg
- Start date
Mark Harris
Pain in the ass
my GF and I are going to try to catch this tomorrow night at BAM. Been meaning to see it.
TheMacB
Veteran
i love Basquiat. can't wait to see this.
Will Clegg
Veteran
Much better than seeing it at Angelika. It's often a very quiet film, and then all of a sudden the subway rumbles by... Grrr.
I think there was another thread (not in this section) about how they used a lensbaby for many of the subjective shots, especially in the beginning. I'm sure that this has been done in a film before, but man, was it cool. I am thinking about getting one and mounting it on my M2.
I would definitely like to see Schnabel and Janusz Kaminski team up again.
Steve Laramie
Veteran
Genius
puredrifting
Major Contributor
My favorite film of the past three years. Absolutely blown away by the filmmaking.
See it if you haven't.
Dan
See it if you haven't.
Dan
slimjimmed
Well-known member
I watched this last night and was transfixed. I am going to get the book this week.
Julian Schnabel, the painter, is putting together quite a filmography.
Basquiat, Before Night Falls, this, and next is Lou Reed's Berlin!
Julian Schnabel, the painter, is putting together quite a filmography.
Basquiat, Before Night Falls, this, and next is Lou Reed's Berlin!
slimjimmed
Well-known member
I watched it again last night. I don't remember the last time I rented a movie and watched it 2 nights in a row.
These are the kind of films I live for; the ones that really stick with you and give insight into your own life.
These are the kind of films I live for; the ones that really stick with you and give insight into your own life.
moviewalls
Member
From reading the synopsis I thought this movie would be like The Sea Inside (which I couldn't get into like I wanted to). Even with Javier Bardem, that movie never rises to the level of humanity that the cast of Diving Bell brings. And it's hard to disparage Bardem, because I think he's as capable as any actor the heart of anchoring a film. The two movies have two completely different stories, though both have a common idea in mind. The producers of Diving Bell considered having the film shot in English I heard. And I think they also wanted to cast Johnny Depp as the lead... I couldn't really imagine that. Anyway, the cinematography and direction were top notch!
puredrifting
Major Contributor
Good observations moviewalls.
What I found so powerful about the film is that it was a universal story about something that could happen to any of us at any time. It's an easy film to relate to. The closest I have ever came to that was an allergic reaction, followed by me going into anaphylactic shock, then having a reaction to the Epinephrine shot. My life flashed before my eyes as they say and for a few moments, I felt exactly how the character felt in the film, I couldn't move or speak and I was totally at the mercy of the nurses attending to me. It was scary and not scary at the same time. Only scary because I almost died yet, once I was experiencing it, you are just on a ride and there is very little you can do about it.
How the character of Jean-Do handles his situation really made me happy about the human condition and said more about courage more than any film I have seen in years.
Julian Schnabel really impressed me, he obviously works in film very much like painting as he directs and he was smart enough to hire one of the best DPs currently working to handle the visual details.
It would have been horrible in English (and I don't speak a word of French) and Depp, while I think he is one of the best actors working, would have probably turned the film into something other than what it is, not by his acting, but simply by the fact that with him in it, the expectations for the film would have been unreasonable, the budget would have probably had to quadruple, higher expectations, more hoopla and we probably would have gotten something more commercial and much less special. Depp lives in France though, he proabably could have handled the French, oui?
Dan
What I found so powerful about the film is that it was a universal story about something that could happen to any of us at any time. It's an easy film to relate to. The closest I have ever came to that was an allergic reaction, followed by me going into anaphylactic shock, then having a reaction to the Epinephrine shot. My life flashed before my eyes as they say and for a few moments, I felt exactly how the character felt in the film, I couldn't move or speak and I was totally at the mercy of the nurses attending to me. It was scary and not scary at the same time. Only scary because I almost died yet, once I was experiencing it, you are just on a ride and there is very little you can do about it.
How the character of Jean-Do handles his situation really made me happy about the human condition and said more about courage more than any film I have seen in years.
Julian Schnabel really impressed me, he obviously works in film very much like painting as he directs and he was smart enough to hire one of the best DPs currently working to handle the visual details.
It would have been horrible in English (and I don't speak a word of French) and Depp, while I think he is one of the best actors working, would have probably turned the film into something other than what it is, not by his acting, but simply by the fact that with him in it, the expectations for the film would have been unreasonable, the budget would have probably had to quadruple, higher expectations, more hoopla and we probably would have gotten something more commercial and much less special. Depp lives in France though, he proabably could have handled the French, oui?
Dan
moviewalls
Member
It's amazing how often you hear of such-and-such acclaimed foreign movie almost being cast with an native English speaker. I think Depp could've handled the role, but he would've been miscast for those exact reasons you mentioned.
I would think an experience like yours would lead to a compelling reaction to a film like Schnabel's. I have heard of people having severe breathing problems, but to actually going into that semi unconscious state must have been absolutely wild. I never got a chance to watch Before Night Falls or Basquiat. I think some of Diving Bell has to be attributed to the writing of Ronald Harwood who also did Polanski's The Pianist. I think the writer and director of The Sea Inside saw the main character in a completely different light than Schnabel and Harwood did. I feel like the filmmakers for both films were going for different tones completely.
All that said, as far as 07/08 films go, I liked There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men better! I guess it depends on your mood at the time!
I would think an experience like yours would lead to a compelling reaction to a film like Schnabel's. I have heard of people having severe breathing problems, but to actually going into that semi unconscious state must have been absolutely wild. I never got a chance to watch Before Night Falls or Basquiat. I think some of Diving Bell has to be attributed to the writing of Ronald Harwood who also did Polanski's The Pianist. I think the writer and director of The Sea Inside saw the main character in a completely different light than Schnabel and Harwood did. I feel like the filmmakers for both films were going for different tones completely.
All that said, as far as 07/08 films go, I liked There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men better! I guess it depends on your mood at the time!