Search - Butterfly on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Movie Release: 1999 DVD Release: 02/20/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: French, Spanish Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 34 mins Studio: Miramax Members Wishing: 5 Genres: Drama, Period Film, Political Drama, Childhood Drama, Coming-of-Age

Veteran director Jose Luis Cuerda delivered this sensitive portrait of a child coming of age during a tense political situation just before the Spanish Civil War. On his first day of school, frail eight-year-old Moncho (Manuel Lozano) is so terrified by the imposing figure of his teacher Don Gregorio (Fernando Fernan Gomez) that he flees into the nearby woods. In spite of his authoritarian appearance, the schoolmaster proves to be a kind, free-thinking Republican who teaches Moncho the virtues of being good. The boy is soon spending much of his time with the elderly Gregorio in the Galician countryside, admiring such wonders of nature as the tongue of a butterfly. Other people in young Moncho's world include his down-to-earth mother (Uxia Blanco), his Republican father, and his older brother, who plays the saxophone with a group of local musicians. However, when the Fascists roll into town, the boy's life changes forever. La Lengua de las Mariposas was screened at the 1999 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Fernando Fernán Gómez - Don Gregorio
Manuel Lozano - Moncho
Uxia Blanco - Rosa
Gonzalo Martin Uriarte - Ramon
Alexis de Los Santos - Andres

José Luis Cuerda's coming-of-age drama Butterfly comes to DVD with a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. A Spanish soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1, and a French soundtrack has been recorded in Dolby Digital Surround. English subtitles are accessible, and the Spanish soundtrack is closed-captioned. There are no supplemental materials of any consequence, but this disc should be of interest to anyone with an interest in foreign language films. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide