.The movie is about how he suffers a massive stroke at the age of 43...and gets paralyzed head to toe...The only thing he is left with is his imagination and his one eye and how he is trapped in his body which is the diving bell and communicates (with his one eye lid,which blinks like a butterfly)by blinking when his assistant utters the correct alphabet,hence forming words and sentences and hence finally a book called THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY...the movie based on the book is extraordinarily directed by Julian Schnabel.It talks about...how people react to him,how he deals with it...and even if life is tough,love doesn't change and since we see most of the movie from his point of view we come out feeling...the same way.Whether love changes or not i don't know...but the movie surely had an impact on me....its been running at the back of my mind since last Wednesday.When I'm in the auto,when i see a beggar on the street,when I'm taking my dog for a walk and see another stray dog sitting all alone by itself,i wonder ...who really cares?if you or I were in such a position where we cant talk to people...or can only blink...or even if we are just alone..would we still be as important?..would we still be as strong?its not about who's there for you or who's not....its about how YOU deal with it!!..its all about realizing that you are....always,always alone....Its most importantly about how you deal with this truth during your hardest times.
For me this movie was more about realizing how to love some one and still not get affected by it...yes i stress again on the fact that numbness is good...it is!
After my grandmother,probably the closest person to me was my great grand mother..we called her Babushka(meaning grandmother in Russian)she was 97 when she died two years ago.The last few years of her life were very difficult.she couldn't walk at all..almost.she was confined to her popular black leather chair.she would sit and watch the world go by...she used to have skin that even at the age of 97 was soft..she had strong grey eye
s..She was a very very strong woman right till the end,she possessed a powerful presence,wit and intelligence.She was some one who had a heart of gold..she was never afraid of making a decision...never wondered if "that was the way to go"she was very bold...she was the one that gave strength to the family.she was the iron pillar.when people needed her she was there..when my grand mom and her sister gave birth to their children she was beside them..when my aunt travelled the world giving bharathnatyam performances,she was there by her side at the age of 70,when my mom needed all the emotional support she could get...she was there!and numerous other times.she was the pillar...but at the end!?were we really there for her?...There were days she would ask me to to take 5mins and talk to her but as usual i would tell her ill come back and it would gradually slip my mind...and eventually when i did want to talk to her and pour my heart out she could hardly reply.The last year of her life she hardly talked...its not enough if we provide servants to keep her happy..that's not all one needs..that's not all what SHE needed..Some times even now after two years ...I still feel like shes there...there are these flashes when i suddenly think "O babushka kitta solitu pohanam"..and only after a few seconds do i realize shes no more...i miss her.after a point her speech became bad and so we had this board where she would point out letters and we would form words and sentences and that's how she communicated and that's why during this movie I kept remembering her.Like the words in the song"I can pretend that i owe her nothing and the world Will still be green"....but.....i wont pretend!!and the world will never.... always be green.The next most amazing thing in the movie are the soundtracks...they have chosen the best soundtracks ..and have placed it perfectly during the course of the movie...I think its the sound tracks that lift the movie to great heights....there is a song called 'Don't kiss me goodbye'..which is wonderful but my favorite is Tom Waits's-all the world is green,and as usual I'm going to give you the lyrics...the song is simply amazinggggg!...for all of you who haven't watched the movie...please do!
ALL THE WORLD IS GREEN
I fell into the ocean
When you became my wife
I risked it all against the sea
To have a better life
Marie you are the wild blue sky
Men do foolish things
You turn kings into beggars
And beggars into kings
Pretend that you owe me nothing
And all the world is green
We can bring back the old days again
When all the world is green
The face forgives the mirror
The worm forgives the plow
The questions begs the answer
Can you forgive me somehow?
Maybe when our story's over
We'll go where it's always spring
The band is playing our song again
And all the world is green
Pretend that you owe me nothing
And all the world is green
Can we bring back the old days again?
And all the world is green
The moon is yellow silver
On the things that summer brings
It's a love you'd kill for
And all the world is green
He's balancing a diamond
On a blade of grass
The dew will settle on our graves
When all the world is green
Pretend that you owe me nothing
And all the world is green
We can bring back the old days again
When all the world is green
He's balancing a diamond
On a blade of grass
The dew will settle on our graves
When all the world is green
I fell into the ocean
When you became my wife
I risked it all against the sea
To have a better life
Marie you are the wild blue sky
Men do foolish things
You turn kings into beggars
And beggars into kings
Pretend that you owe me nothing
And all the world is green
We can bring back the old days again
When all the world is green
The face forgives the mirror
The worm forgives the plow
The questions begs the answer
Can you forgive me somehow?
Maybe when our story's over
We'll go where it's always spring
The band is playing our song again
And all the world is green
Pretend that you owe me nothing
And all the world is green
Can we bring back the old days again?
And all the world is green
The moon is yellow silver
On the things that summer brings
It's a love you'd kill for
And all the world is green
He's balancing a diamond
On a blade of grass
The dew will settle on our graves
When all the world is green
Pretend that you owe me nothing
And all the world is green
We can bring back the old days again
When all the world is green
He's balancing a diamond
On a blade of grass
The dew will settle on our graves
When all the world is green
