9. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Julian Schnabel, 2007.
FRA/US

Forget torture porn, this is painful film viewing at it’s most explicit. The story of a man trapped in his own body, Julian Schnabel crafts a visually unique and moving account of the latter years of the life of former Elle magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, a man paralysed in all but his left eyelid. Mathieu Amalric, an actor that would become better known to the masses as a Bond villain manages to portray the complexities of Bauby’s characteristics perfectly, with a balance between tragic victim and arrogant charlatan that maintains a suitably unhinged tone throughout the films running time.