The Truth About 'The Diving Bell and The Butterfly'

Family and friends of Jean-Dominique Bauby speak out about how Julian Schnabel's Oscar-nominated film honors and defames Bauby's real story.

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By Beth Arnold

The quietly stunning film of Jean-Dominique Bauby's phenomenal memoir, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," is nominated for four Oscars this year. They include directing by Julian Schnabel -- an honor he won for the film at the Cannes Film Festival and Golden Globes -- and best adapted screenplay by Ronald Harwood, who won an Oscar in 2002 for his adaptation "The Pianist." "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is also nominated for cinematography and editing, and has won numerous awards in film festivals across the world.

There is every reason for the film's success. It recounts the remarkable life of Bauby, the debonair editor of French Elle magazine who in 1995 suffered a massive stroke. He slipped into a coma that lasted 20 days and awoke to find himself paralyzed from head to toe. He was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder called locked-in syndrome.