| THE BUTTERFLY Director: José Luis Cuerda "What is The Butterfly about? I would say it's about two types of apprenticships, which more than justify human adventure. Aprrenticship in love and apprenticeship in freedom." Manuel Rivas, Novelist who wrote the book on which this movie is based. The Butterfly is a story about the amiable bond made between an aging Leftist schoolteacher nearing the end of his career and a 7-year-old boy who is attending school for the first time. The setting is 1936 right before the Spanish Civil War when the citizens were in fear of being caught somewhere in the middle of the ensuing battle between the Fascists on the right and the Republicans (liberals and Communists) on the left; both of whom were maneuvering for the control and future of Spain. The focus of the film -- directed by José Luis Cuerda -- is split between a coming-of-age allegory and a historical political injustice drama. The teacher -- played by Spain’s legendary actor Fernando Fernán-Gómez -- is a well-learned, open-minded and compassionate man who becomes both an influence and a friend to the boy (Manuel Lozano). He’s the kind of teacher we only see in movies: He reads his students poetry, he gives them all good grades, he rarely if ever punishes them and he takes them out on field trips to help them appreciate, through all their senses, the natural world. It’s easy to see why Miramax was attracted to the material because it has a similar sugar-coated feel to a film like Cinema Paradiso - one of the films that helped establish their reputation..And although it doesn’t have the weepy payoff it too unfolds with a flashback voice-over, which is meant to evoke the days of yesteryear as well as nostalgically highlighting an important period in a country’s history. Since the film is based on the nostalgia of an innocent boy the film’s style is very sleek and glossy. Unfortunately, as conscious as this technique is, it translates into a weakness for the film. The rich, glossy cinematography subverts the power of the film and the stagy art direction feels so stodgy and suffocating that you’re never unaware that you’re watching a movie. Some of the story too gets annoyingly sappy. Especially a scene where the boy and his older brother (Alexis de los Santos) are traveling and the brother instantly falls in love with an Asian slave whom he somehow dreamed about and drew a picture of before meeting. He catches a glimpse of her for all of a minute and when he realizes he can’t have her he ruefully weeps. It’s a sheer Hollywood conceit that feels as false as it is silly because it asks us to weep with the brother when real tragedy, unrelated to his fantasy, is happening all around him. The Spanish title is La Lengua de las Mariposas which literally translates as "The tongue (or language) of the butterfly", which within the context of the film makes a lot more sense than the simplified U.S. title The Butterfly. The Spanish title is metaphorical and has many meanings including a reference to a type of butterfly whose tongue unwinds (untangles) itself out long and flat. If you’re wondering how this all relates to Spain in the 1930s it’s not easy to pinpoint, but most likely the title transfers more to the concept of "language" than it does to "tongue." Meaning the butterfly’s language is beautiful, fleeting and ephemeral. And so maybe was the idyllic concept of Spain’s unity and peace through Socialism in the 1930s. The title's direct relation to the story of the teacher and the boy all comes down to a powerfully abrupt last scene. A scene that brings all the principle characters into one place where the Fascists have begun their reign of injustice and terror. It’s a scene that not only denies the film a traditional fourth act but one that shifts the story in such a way as to almost entirely change its meaning. Within the context of the rest of the film, the last scene shifts the film from one that is respectfully mediocre to one that is both powerful and poignant. - Matt Langdon |