Bell stars Mathieu Amalric (Munich) as Jean-Dominique Bauby, the French Elle editor who at 43 suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed except for his left eye, which, by blinking, he used to dictate the memoir on which this is based. Director Julian Schnabel brought a certain zeal to the project. ''My system of directing is, everybody jumps in the hole. If you can climb out, you can go home at the end of the day.'' The result won him the Best Director prize at this year's Cannes.

You Might Also Like

• Movie Review The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Nov 30, 2007) | Lisa Schwarzbaum
• Movie News Julian Schnabel shows his gratitude (Nov 30, 2007) | Clark Collis
• Movie News Oscar buzz-o-meter (Dec 07, 2007) | Dave Karger
• Movie News Oscar favorites land Producers Guild noms (Dec 05, 2007) | Joshua Rich
• Book Commentary Bestselling fiction hits theaters
• Movie Review Heartbeat Detector (Mar 14, 2008) | Lisa Schwarzbaum