Schnabel has done something close to miraculous in making the inherently noncinematic subject of Jean-Dominique Bauby, a man who was trapped inside his own body after a massive stroke, so gorgeously and vibrantly cinematic. The use of first-person perspective, metaphoric visualization, and interior monologues could have been gimmicky, but with painter-turned-director Schnabel’s touch and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski’s expertise, it truly comes alive. I just wish that, at the end of the film, I felt like I knew as much about who Jean-Do was as what he went through. (Awards Screener DVD)