Diegetics

I recently watched the movie "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" for my world cinema class. The story itself was incredibly interesting, but i understood and loved it more because of the way it was filmed. The story was about a magazine editor that suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed and mute. He communicated using his only working eye and did so by blinking it. Most of the film was filmed through his eyes, literally. The story begins as he is waking up from his coma. His eyes blink slowly open and the vision is blurry. Everyone in his sight are close up, directly in his face. Because he cannot move his head it is imperative that they stay within his line of veiw if they want his attention or wish to talk to him. The way that this is filmed gives you amazing perspective on what the character "Bauby" is going through. You the viewer are limited to what he can see and hear. Bauby's brain is still completely functioning. While the story is being layed out through his eyes, the viewer can also hear what he is thinking. He expresses his frustrations through his thoughts in a way in which he cannot do so to outsiders and those taking care of him. The world of the film is carefully set up so the veiwer becomes emotionally attached to Bauby and what he is going through throughout the film. most of the shots are closed shots, leaving the viewer wanting to know more, but restricted because Bauby is restricted in that way. In some ways the director lets the view in on Bauby's life through memories and his imagination. These shots are open shots and often do not include close ups on any one in Bauby's life. By doing this the viewer understands that this is not reality by a memory. The director truely created Bauby's world in a way that i could make it my own, it was a true work of art.