When being interviewed on Charlie Rose, wear something other than flannel.

It's rare these days for me to get to a movie theater to see something new, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that there is so little new that is worth seeing. And it seems to come in a flurry, so that the things that do interest me are gone before I have the chance to catch them on the big screen. As a result, Netflix has become my mode of choice for viewing most of the films I see. Not quite the same cinematic experience, but nonetheless, an opportunity to watch things new and old in the comfort of home, at my leisure.

So it feels that I am constantly playing catchup on the things that I have missed along the way. One of those things, was Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Now, although I liked Basquiat, I am skeptical from the start of anything that Julian Schnabel has something to do with. For those who are not familiar with him, he made his name as painter of very large, what I consider to be rather pretentious paintings. And he has moved on to making rather pretentious films. Or so I always assume. When I first heard of the story of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, I was so intrigued by it, only to discover that Julian Schnabel had his fingerprints on it, which turned me off. But I came back to the story, as always seems to happen with his work, and thank god I did, because it is a really wonderful film. I still think that dressing like Larry the Cable Guy for interviews (as Schnabel seems to love to do) strikes me as a bit odd, from the standpoint of trying so hard to be the opposite of the thing that you are, but that's neither here nor there.

The film is stunning from a visual standpoint, without giving away too much of the plot, in that it gives the audience the perspective of the main character for much of the first half hour or so, who has just woken up from a 3 week comatose state, and is needless to say, in quite a daze. The effects are achieved not through the typical modern tools of post-production, but exclusively through in camera techniques (another argument for the relevance of film?). Some are simple, such as covering the camera lens with hands in order to simulate looking through a blinking eye, to more complex under or overcranking the camera and using multiple exposures.

Beyond the purely aesthetic standpoint, Schnabel makes liberal use of the visual flights that the main character goes on, relying purely on his imagination to live out his thoughts since his body remains paralyzed. The extensive use of POV shots places the audience squarely in the frustrating position of this patient, who is entirely reliant on the help of his caretakers. It is ultimately a thought provoking, as well as emotional journey which so fully uses the attributes of film in an incredibly effective way, as so few movies today do.