The Diving Bell and the Butterfly News

Julian Schnabel recently spoke with IGN.com about his amazing work on The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Here are excerpts from the chat with the director:

IGN: You won Best Director in Cannes and now you've been Oscar nominated. Do awards mean anything to you?
Schnabel: You know what? I think it just shows that people appreciate the movie. And it's not good enough to be snotty about that, saying awards don't mean anything. But I also think that this year there are so many good movies and so many good people that are being honoured, it's not a competitive feeling out there, it's a feeling of camaraderie.

IGN: Why have so many great movies have come along at once?
Schnabel: I don't know whether it's because the world is in such dire need of something that people step up to the plate or what it is. It's Sean Penn, Tony Gilroy, Paul Thomas Anderson â€" who I think made a great movie â€" the Coen brothers and me... Usually I'm one of those guys who doesn't want to be in a club that would have me as a member, but I accept this year.

Read the full interview with Schnabel now.

Julian Schnabel is the director of the most critically acclaimed film of the season, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. He recently spoke to Comingsoon.net about his goal for the movie:

"I wanted this film to be a tool, like... a self-help device that can help you handle your own death," he said.

Based on reaction so far, Schnabel has succeeded.

In the interview, the director also talked about his musical inspirations:

"I knew that I was gonna use that U2 song ["Ultra Violet (Baby, Light My Way)"] always. I was with him in Cannes [in 1992] and I drove to Neem to meet my wife. I rented this Mercedes and I was driving 120 miles an hour listening to the song and I thought, 'If I ever make a movie, this song is gonna be there.' You know, Bono's a friend of mine and we drive around and he sings to me sometimes in the car when we are driving."