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Butterfly
Butterfly
Actors: Manuel Lozano, Fernando Fernán Gómez, Uxía Blanco, Gonzalo Uriarte, Alexis de los Santos
Director: José Luis Cuerda
Genres: Indie & Art House, Drama
R     2001     1hr 36min

Acclaimed by critics and featuring legendary star Fernando Fernan Gomez (ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER) BUTTERFLY is a heartwarming tale about a young boy growing up in a small Spanish town. Moncho is timid and fearful as he starts ...  more »

     
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Movie Details

Actors: Manuel Lozano, Fernando Fernán Gómez, Uxía Blanco, Gonzalo Uriarte, Alexis de los Santos
Director: José Luis Cuerda
Creators: José Luis Cuerda, Emiliano Otegui, Fernando Bovaira, Jose Maria Iresteiro, Manuel Rivas, Rafael Azcona
Genres: Indie & Art House, Drama
Sub-Genres: Indie & Art House, Drama
Studio: Miramax
Format: DVD - Color,Anamorphic - Subtitled
DVD Release Date: 02/20/2001
Original Release Date: 01/01/1999
Theatrical Release Date: 01/01/1999
Release Year: 2001
Run Time: 1hr 36min
Screens: Color,Anamorphic
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 0
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Languages: French, Spanish
Subtitles: English

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Member Movie Reviews

Leah G. (Leahbelle) from NIPOMO, CA
Reviewed on 9/14/2020...
This was a mostly delightful story about a little boy and his teacher. It takes place in Spain with subtitles, which don't bother me at all. If I remember correctly, I believe it might also have the option to watch it spoken in English, although the actors are speaking Spanish.

Movie Reviews

Absorbing Story about a Boy and a Teacher in Spain
Tsuyoshi | Kyoto, Japan | 01/14/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)

""Butterfly" is an absorbing story about young, innocent brothers of a tailor living in Spain just before the civil war begins, and as you already may guess, it begins sweetly and ends sadly. The focus of the film is set on the relationship between the younger brother Moncho and his retiring old teacher. And around them well-drawn people of a Spanish village in winter, 1936, are portrayed. You may think historical knowledge is needed; actually, though it helps, not exactly necessary. The film skillfully tells a chain of episodes about a Chinese girl (with whom elder brother falls in love) or a woman who seems more attracted to her dog than to her lover. But the most impressive scene is, as everyone would agree, the heart-rending ending. Probably, interpretation of the scene in point would differ among viewers (listen the boy's last word; it's the key), but as to its stunning reality revealing the innate weakness of human beings, no one would disagree. Is the friendship between the boy and the teacher really ended? The director, I think, took the best course, leaving the answer up to us. Mine is that it is a hopeful one. The teacher knows, and underdstands, the kid had to do it. I'd like to think so.The film's script was made from Manuel Rivas's original book, collection of short stories, and the film used several stories to compose the whole story, so this process may explain a little slack development of the film. Sometimes "Butterfly" suffers from a loose connection between rather irrelevant episodes, but it is saved by its wonderful photography capturing the beauty of the country. Remember, the story is slow, but the entire film finally makes up for it. It is sad, but not without hope.One thing more: the film's music was composed by Alejandro Amenabar, director of "Open Your Eyes" (later remade as "Vanilla Sky") and "The Others." He is responsible for the music of those two movies, too."
Butterflies are not always free
Billy J. Hobbs | Tyler, TX USA | 12/15/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)

""Butterfly" ("Mariposa" in Spanish) is a Spanish film set in 1936, in the pre-stages of the Spanish Civil War.
Filmed in the standard European method (i.e., very well!), this film brings together Moncho (a young boy), his family, his village and its politics, and an aging school teacher, who only wants to teach that everyone should live free (or "at least one generation of Spaniards should live free!"). It is a heartwarming and heartbreaking film about the struggles, internally and outwardly: of trying to grow up and understand an adult world that seems bizarre at best, of wrestling with a myriad of political "solutions" facing the country at the time (which pitted Church against king against the fascists against the communists, thus leaving innocent Moncho completely confused.

The film quite adequately carries these themes and, alas, with no happy conclusion (it's not Hollywood, after all!). Moncho sees this adult world come crashing down upon his own sensibilities, and being six years old, find himself unable not only to cope with it but not to be able to understand it at all, try as hard as he may. Politics wins out, at least at this time and civil liberties (certainly a stranger to Spain at that time in history) once more fall by the camino real.

"Butterfly" makes a striking statement about the Human Condition, and how some cope, some reject, some distort, and some accept it. Seen from the perspective of Americans who seem to take civil liberties for granted, freedom on every corner, and rights in abundance, we can only feel saddened that these citizens know not freedom's ring. We do know, however, even though perhaps in another venue, the heartbreak of deception, of lost love, of being manipulated by false forces.
This is a powerful film that, subtitles aside (American audiences don't always "accept" them!), is worth the effort."
Beautiful movie!
Benjamin W. Waterhouse | Portland, OR | 05/03/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Another reviewer lamented this film's "obscure metaphors." Here's a hint: there aren't any. No knowledge of Spanish history is needed to understand any part of this film besides the very end, and anyone who took world history should know that the fascists carted off everyone they didn't like at the beginning of the civil war. To say that the western world has forgotten the Spanish civil war is akin to saying that the western world has forgotten the holocaust, the only greater atrocity ever committed on European soil.But about the movie itself. The cinematography is beautiful, and the acting is excellent. The subtitles are for the hearing impared, which is a little annoying, but it's easy enough to ignore "[dog barks]." The only fault I can find with the film is that it tends to digress a little too much; there are several peripheral episodes that never really go anywhere. The soundtrack is amazing. Definitely one of the best movies to come out of Spain in a long time!"