In 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editor of French Elle, suffered, at the age of forty-three, a massive stroke that left him able to move nothing but his left eye.

NEWYORKER: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

The little book that Bauby composed by blinking while a secretary ran through the alphabet serves as the basis for this astounding movie, which was directed by Julian Schnabel and written by Ronald Harwood.

NEWYORKER: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

At first, we see only what Bauby (Mathieu Amalric) sees: a blur of faces, which turn out to be the doctors and nurses at the hospital, who float into view in fearsome closeup, like deep-sea monsters.

NEWYORKER: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly