Water Imagery In The Diving Bell And The Butterfly

Water imagery plays a rich and complex role in many works of art. In some works, water represents life, cleansing, and redemption; in others, images of water evoke a darker sense of endlessness, chaos, and abyss. In the movie The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, director Julian Schnabel presents a series of images involving water to reflect upon the condition of locked-in syndrome, following the autobiographical story of Jean-Dominique Bauby. Viewers of Schnabel’s creation ask: how does the varying visual representation of water serve complex, interconnected, yet sometimes contradictory themes? More specifically, what cinematographic tools does Schnabel employ in his images of water to imagine the relationship between a functional mind and a broken body in Jean-Do’s experience of locked-in syndrome? It seems appropriate for Schnabel to incorporate images of water in reference to the title of Jean-Do’s story, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Jean-Do himself describes locked-in syndrome as the feeling of being physically trapped in a diving bell. On the surface level, Schnabel visualizes the feelings of suffocation and entrapment that Jean-Do describes in dream sequences of Jean-Do in the diving bell. However, throughout the film, Schnabel returns to the motif of water as a visual representation of locked-in syndrome and the struggle between mind and …show more content…
Jean-Do is not fully trapped because his mind has escaped the physical confines of his flesh, and yet he will never be truly free until he can move his body. The lighting on the water is warm but not overly bright. In contrast with the harsh white light of the previous bathing scene, viewers get the sense that it is mid-day, a time which establishes the intermediacy of Jean-Do’s condition. He is neither fully sick, having emotionally accepted his state under locked-in syndrome, nor