The Diving Bell and The Butterfly tells the tragic story of former Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby who becomes paralyzed after a car accident. He suffers ‘locked-in syndrome’, and can only communicate by blinking his left eye. Despite this tragedy, he manages to dictate his memoirs and the film concentrates on this process.

What unfolds is a truly inspiring story of a man coming to terms with being trapped inside a non-functioning body, and is brilliant played by Mathieu Amalric. A lot of the film is shot from his perspective adding to the sense of absolute frustration that Bauby feels.

The artist-director Julian Schnabel makes many of the scenes more memorable by using vivid colours, particularly when featuring the female characters. The many dream-like cut scenes add a fantasy element, contrasting with the stark setting of the hospital where most of the film is played out.

Overall, a fantastic film and inspiring in many ways.

David Cronenberg’s latest film stars Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts in a gritty gangster thriller set in North London. It concerns the death of a young teenager, the diary that she leaves behind and the implications of a Russian gang behind her death.

Mortensen, who plays the driver of the gang, puts in a performance of both menace and intrigue: dressed in his smart black suit, you are never quite sure if he will lose his cool.

The story is well-paced and the dialogue good, with enough humour sprinkled around to soften the often very tense scenes. The violence, as you might expect from Cronenberg, is shocking and, in the case of the bath house fight scene, incredibly brutal.

Even though the ending ties up a few too many loose ends, I found it a very enoyable gangster film and Mortensen’s performance deserves the Oscar nomination.