The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

Also known as Le Scaphandre et le papillon.
Just at the surface, the true story told here is genuinely remarkable: Jean-Dominique Bauby, an editor for Elle magazine, has a stroke which renders him completely and permanently paralyzed except for one eyelid. He then goes on to write a critically acclaimed novel describing what everyday life is like for someone unable to communicate, move, eat without tubes, smell, or feel. Just as a concept it's staggering, and certainly a tale worth telling. This film, based on his memoirs, offers a beautifully rendered and deeply heartfelt story of depression and mania, and eventual acceptance of a condition nearly too horrible to imagine. Director Julian Schnabel moves this tale around with a sense of time and progress, but also an almost balletic sense of imagination, reflecting the mind of the protagonist. Much of the film is done from a first-person perspective, showing things through our Jean-Do's eyes, and the effect is a crushing level of sympathy. It's frequently a difficult film to enjoy simply because it's basic structure is so sad. But like many difficult things, there is catharsis here, and if you're looking for something different and powerful and meaningful, you will find it all here.

9 out of 10.