Films/DVD Asylum

I thought it was a pretentious POS

76.95.68.13

Analog Scott

In Reply to: RE: Divingbell and the Butterfly posted by delboy on September 29, 2008 at 04:00:44

The actual true life story is remarkable but this film was very problematic for me. The gimmicky cinematic conventions used were heavy handed, obvious, pretentious, often poorly crafted and sometimes physically nausiating. IMO this was like a student film gone bad.

Follow Ups:

Here's another opinion... - Harmonia 08:31:39 09/30/08 (0)
I've offered up my opposing view below.

I think a visual artist (Schnabel is a painted and sculptor) is the ideal person to convey this story and emotions visually. As I said below, I thought TDB&TB was remarkably restrained and highly effective visual storytelling - every frame was loaded to me, but not overbearing.

See the link for an alternate take on the movie, one which is much better expressed than my poor prose can offer.
- Salon Review of Diving Bell and The Butterfuly (Open in New Window)
Kind of like a French, "I am Sam." The genre of the seriously ill - tinear 07:46:13 09/30/08 (0)
particularly is hard to excel in.
RE: I thought it was a pretentious POS - delboy 04:12:13 09/30/08 (4)
Are the terms 'gimmicky' and 'conventions' not mutually exclusive? I take your point on physically nausiating and I personally thought it added to the effect which was trying to be conveyed. .
I guess it's horses for courses. I really expected it to be pretentious but in reality found it more interesting, entertaining and provocative than I could have imagined.

Edits: 09/30/08
- RE: I thought it was a pretentious POS - Analog Scott 18:36:58 09/30/08 (2)
  > Are the terms 'gimmicky' and 'conventions' not mutually exclusive?>
  
  Convention: an established technique, practice, or device (as in literature or the theater)
  
  Gimmick: unique or quirky special feature that makes something "stand out" from its contemporaries. However, the special feature is typically thought to be of little relevance or use.
  
  I can see how one could see these as mutually exclusive but I think it is fair to say this about cinematic techniques. Gimicks can be subsets of conventions. An example. I would say that the specific techniques used to give the watcher a first person perspective of the protagonist in The Diving bell and the Butterfly is a gimick in that it is a quirky and unique special feature and *I* would take it so far as to say IMO it was indeed of little relevance other than to try to tell us the film maker is really creative and unconventional. OTOH in the broader sense it is a subset of a convention of film making in which film makers understand the camera is the eye of the veiwer and they can through any number of techniques put the viewer in the shoes of the protagonist. So that is one example a gimmicky convention. And I would say this one was specifically "heavy handed, obvious, pretentious, poorly crafted and sometimes physically nausiating."
  Perhaps it would not have been quite so heavy handed, obvious, pretentious and nausiating were it better crafted and not so heavily featured. It's an old theater trick for an actor to use a gimmick to help develop a character. but the idea is to eventually let go of the gimmick as it does it's job. In practical terms this could mean using a shtick as a cruch in developing a performance but as the performance develops and that actor finds the deeper truth in his or her character one uses the schtik fewer times until it is all but eliminated or used so seldom that it will never be seen as heavy handed and obvious. IMO Schnabel being an inexperienced and undiciplinded film maker lacked the skills to do this. so we are left with gimmicks in the place of artistic truth. This often happens when one jumps ship and tries a new art form.
  - RE: I thought it was a pretentious POS - merlinus 19:51:16 09/30/08 (1)
    In my far from humble opinion, and as an abstract expressionist painter, I think Schnabel sucks as an artist as well as a film director.
    
    Hype, hype, and more hype. Flash and glitz can never conceal lack of substance and meaning.
    - While I would agree with you about his... - Harmonia 21:41:49 09/30/08 (0)
      ...paintings/collages (the last exhibition of his I saw must have been over 12-14 years ago), I obviously part company concerning TDB&TB. I actually think he's a much better director than painter or sculptor.
      Flash and glitz conceal lack of substance all the time, at least as perceived by some. It won't do so forever, of course. But it fools plenty of people a lot of the time.
      Pace, Merlinus Ambrosius, we shall have to diagree.
      
      Edits: 09/30/08
- Agreed, and moreover...far from being "gimicky"... - Harmonia 08:10:13 09/30/08 (0)
  ...I thought the film was restrained and understated. It was about as far from a Hollywood handicapped tear jerker (I Am Sam???!!!) as it's possible to be.
  I thought the director found a highly effective and economical way to portray Bauby's POV and interior state. It was not intrusive to me at all.
  The scene where Bauby catches sight of his changed physical self in reflective glass as he is wheeled down a corridor was truly horrifying - for him and for us. I also thought the sewing shut of Bauby's eyelid at the beginning from his POV was tremendously effective. This is fine cinematic storytelling in my book. The visuals take you into Bauby's world, it's supposed to be unsettling and constrained.
  To me TDB&TB was emotional rather than maudlin. A fine balancing act nearly perfectly executed.
  So there. ;-)
  
  Edits: 09/30/08

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