The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

The first time I ever viewed this film, I could barely get past my tears...which were basically flowing throughout the duration of the film. However, this time, there were less tears and I was able to focus on some different elements of the film. The entire film was moving, touching, etc etc. I thought it was fantastic how almost the entire film was shown through Jean-Do's view. The camera shots, specifically the almost fish-eye views through Jean-Do's blurry eyes were particularly convincing and influential. This film intrigued me in some similar ways that Psycho did...it really put the viewer into the main character's position. This film, however, was a bit more convincing because it is based on a true story.
Something that really stuck out to me in this film was how the director was able to make a large portion of the film seem like an advertisement. This aspect of the movie did not strike me the first time I viewed it (probably because of my overwhelming emotions). However, in many of the scenes in which Jean-Do was remembering experiences he had, much of those specific memories were played out in an advertisement fashion. Specifically, the photo-shoot scene with the models, the driving scene depicting Jean-Do's girlfriend's hair blowing in the wind, and the scene in Lourdes, when Jean-Do is walking down the street looking at the shops. A lot of these scenes seemed like advertisements. But they were also supposed to be the images in Jean-Do's head. Much of the music during these scenes were similar to upbeat music you might see in a commercial and, once that particular scene was over, the music would always end abruptly. I don't know if this was because the director was trying to make it seem as though Jean-Do was a successful editor because much of what he sees in life is in 'advertisement' mode, or if was simply for effect. Either way it was effective and I really love this movie...I could watch it over and over and not only recieve the same emotions, but probably find something new every time.