Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric), 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.
Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric), 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.
"Nothing in director Julian Schnabel's career so far has anticipated the sweetness, sadness, maturity and restraint of this lovely movie."
Guardian
"A film of rare imagination; a collage of unnerving images and great artistry."
Seattle Times
"It is wonderful: a rhapsodic adaptation of a memoir, a visual marvel that wraps its subject in screen romanticism without romanticizing his affliction."
Chicago Tribune
Academy Award nominee
Best Achievement in Directing, Julian Schnabel; Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay
Academy Award nominee
Best Achievement in Cinematography; Best Achievement in Film Editing
Golden Globe winner
Best Foreign Language Film; Best Director - Motion Picture, Julian Schnabel