I never thought when I started talking about films here that I'd have to make a decision about how much of myself I'd have to reveal, but this is a film that effected me very deeply on a personal level which I've still not come to terms with yet. This is not *necessarily* to say it's because of the story itself of Jean-Dominique Bauby (former editor of Elle Magazine suffering from "locked-in syndrome" following a stroke, rendering him unable to move apart from his left eye) that moved me, rather it was very subtle undercurrents which barbed me, even in parts of the film I "shouldn't" really be moved by.

So I've taken the decision that as I don't fully understand yet why this film effected me emotionally in the way that it did I won't talk about that aspect of it. Maybe I'll never understand why I reacted the way I did. Anyway, we begin this film with an audacious screenwriting idea - to put the audience completely in Jean-Do (played by the wonderful Mathieu Amalric)'s situation by having the camera be his "eye" when he wakes up in hospital. We stay there for a good 20 minutes and meet the people who will be helping him (namely speech and physiotherapists Marie-Josée Croze and Olatz López Garmendia) and see exactly how he felt upon news of this situation.

It's a cinematographer's dream gig and it speaks volumes about the quality of work Janusz Kaminski has done for Steven Spielberg over the past 15 years that he was offered the chance to portray a character and his environment in the way that he did. It seems churlish to talk "plot" with this film so I will focus on acting and direction.

The ensemble is fabulous, from Croze (who comes up with an alphabet in terms of frequency of use for Jean-Do to blink his communication with) to his long suffering girlfriend Emmanuelle Seigner, to his assistant in "writing" the book that eventually became this film in Anne Consigny to a past love in Marina Hands and his ageing father Max von Sydow, this film is littered with fantastic performances. None moreso than Amalric himself, who we see in his locked-in state and also through memories, fantasies and dreams - represented metaphorically by the Butterfly of the title as opposed to the Diving Bell, which is the metaphor for his locked-in state (visualised powerfully by director Julian Schnabel).

I found this film, to begin with, breathlessly sad. However this is actually quite a hopeful film that rejoices life - Jean-Do has both a human legacy (his family) and an artistic one (his book), both of which stem from and are surrounded by an immense amount of love and devotion, and transcend the situation and empower him. I keep coming back to the image of the sea when I think about this film, not that it is expressly something Schnabel was necessarily going for but I found a lot to be at ease with contemplating the ebb and flow of life, how it can take away and then give just as much.

This does not preclude the sadness though and it may be too much to bear for some people watching this film. You have a man who everyone tries to help, but is inevitably doomed, he is hurt by his situation just as much as the others around him - others have to translate his blinking, even when it hurts them profoundly. So many characters in the film say they empathise or understand but this is a man who exclusively has dreams and memory - it's beautiful because it shows he's alive and can focus on the positive but desperately painful as the dreams cannot be realised and things he regrets cannot be atoned for.

This film then, you get out of it what you put into it. I firmly believe it was that way for Julian Schnabel, who invested a lot of love and personal involvement and it is that way for the audience too. All the fundamentals are here for an incredible cinematic experience - an inspired, beautifully crafted script, an ensemble giving of themselves completely, a director with a complete understanding of the subject coupled with an artist's vision and then surrounding him are the people best equipped to ensure that he realises that vision. While 2006 and 2007 were down-years for global cinema (particularly, but not exclusively American), 2005 was a brilliant year with incredible depth. This film is the finest film I've seen in the cinema since 2004 and the best film I've seen that has been produced over the last three years. It's worth it for anyone to see this film, if only to see what you can get out of it, if you put in the effort.