The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is the film adaptation by Julian Schnabel of the namesake memoir by Jean-Dominique Bauby, former editor of the French Elle. (The film has been winning awards left and right, but please note that the overly sentimental trailer somewhat misrepresents the film.)

After suffering a massive stroke in 1995 leaving Bauby completely paralyzed with a condition called "locked-in syndrome," he writes the entire book by blinking his left eyelid.

To escape what he calls his "diving bell," he writes: "... [M]y mind takes flight like a butterfly. There is so much to do. You can wander off in space or in time, set out for Tierra del Fuego or for King Midas's court." Bauby, the gourmand, in his paralysis, daydreams of decadent, indulgent meals:

By means of tube threaded into my stomach, two or three bags of a brownish fluid provide my daily caloric needs. For pleasure, I have to turn to the vivid memory of tastes and smells, an inexhaustible reservoir of sensations. Once, I was a master at recycling leftovers. Now I cultivate the art of simmering memories. You can sit down to a meal at any hour, with no fuss or ceremony. If it's a restaurant, no need to call ahead. If I do the cooking, it is always a success. The boeuf bourguignon is tender, the boeuf en gelee is translucent, the apricot pie possesses just the requisite tartness. Depending on my mood, I treat myself to a dozen snails, a plate of Alsatian sausage with sauerkraut, and a bottle of late-vintage golden Gewürztraminer; or else I savor a simple soft-boiled egg with fingers of toast and lightly salted butter. What a banquet!...