| Butterfly |
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| Rating: Good Distributor: Miramax Films Running Length: 1 hour, 33 minutes Genre: Drama MPAA Classification: R U.S. Release Date: June 16th, 2000, June 23rd, 2000 (wider). Director: Jose Luis Cuera In Spanish with subtitles Cast: Fernando Fernan Gomez, Manuel Lozano, Uxia Blanco, and Gonzalo M. Uriarte. |
| Plot: A young boy named Moncho (Manuel Lozano), and an old teacher named Don Gregorio (Fernando Fernan Gomez) develop a solid friendship. They catch butterflies together (to look at of course, not to kill), and he teaches the boy about life. The boy's mother is very religious, while his father is involved in politics. The teacher is atheist, but also into democracy. All these things come together when the Spanish Revelution becomes overwhelming, turning everyone's life upside down. It threatens not only Moncho's family, but also the teacher's life. Everyone has opinions which are stifled by the need to survive, and the necessity to protect your family at all costs. |
| Critique: Butterfly is an often melodramatic film, that succeeds nonetheless in being enjoyable. It does display some sappy dialogue, overcome by some very good chemistry between the characters. Also, the plot is always interesting, and keeps you guessing. The direction is fine, and the acting is good sometimes and poor other times. For instance, Fernando Fernan Gomez, veteran of cinema puts on an awesome performance. However, some of the supporting cast have cliched movements and behaviors. This includes the mother. The whole movie however, is always pretty enjoyable and peaceful. The teacher and the child have terrific chemistry together. The majoriy of the film is pretty light-hearted, however the ending is very dark. It succeeds in being powerful, however it is a bit inconsistent with the rest of the story. It might have been stronger if we were to see some more scenes related to the ending prior in the film. We do get a few, but not enough in my humble opinion. Butterfly is also not quite sure what it wants to do. Does it want to be a film with a message, that supplies political statements mixed with acceptance? Or perhaps it wants to be a simple coming of age story? It cannot make up its mind. The decision is finally left in turmile by the end credits. Nonetheless, there are a lot of fascinating journies in the middle, as well as a touch of humor. The comedy is very on the surface, so it does not distract from the rest of the story. It sort of rolls along with the often silly sequences. I think I liked this film more often when it was into sentiment. When it tried to be powerful, we were not really given enough information to go with it. However, it does supply the film with more meat and works here and there. In conclusion Butterfly is a fun, if sappy film that tries to be powerful and sometimes succeeds. review by supernothingman |