The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Most of you probably know the plot even if you haven’t seen the film: The charming, kind of womanising editor of French Vogue suffers a stroke and wake up in hospital three weeks later. He can see, hear and think completely normally but he can’t speak or move his body at all. This is so-called ‘locked in’ syndrome and it’s the premise behind The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a film based on a book of the same name.

The book was written by the editor in question one letter at a time by blinking one eyelid – his only mode of communication.

It sounds like a right-old sap fest but I saw it the other day and it’s fantastic: funny, beautifully shot and painfully sad, by which I mean everything a movie should be. I wept like a bitch but it was brilliant. See it. No, go on, do.

NOTE: The film's not in black and white. The above picture, I understand, is of the actual editor.