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M. Butterfly Reviews
It is fair to say that something is perhaps lost in translation from the stage to the screen (intimacy for one) but I think there's a lot of criticism directed at the movie in bad faith. Post The Crying Game the "twist" doesn't make much sense as a major plot point and Cronenberg goes the more difficult and interesting route of having the characters subtly acknowledging the truth.
ok. the story is good. theatre in theatre.
Cronenberg manages to deliver a lot with the resources and material he had to work with. The story is memorable mostly for its strangeness. I would only watch this again if there were nothing better to choose from.
having just watched the film, i am trying to understand what it's actually about and why the characters are both blind and deaf to the world they've been dumped in. the first time that gallimard sees that his butterfly is a man in a suit, it's so without expression or reaction, and the scene that follows between the two is baffling, as though the lack of clarity is added to by the lack of insight in the writing. i'd be very eager to hear from hwang what went wrong, what he may have imagined that didn't make it into the final cut.
Final extremamente surpreendente. Não esperava nem de longe um plot daquele.
The main problem with M. Butterfly is one of credibility. All other issues momentarily aside, there is a huge question that needs to be answered: How can Gallimard have lived with, and made love to, this person for eighteen years, yet not recognized that Liling is actually a man? No firm solution is given, and the subject is only tackled in the most oblique and unsatisfactory manner. This film disappoints in almost every area, which is a shame considering the high regard with which the play has been received. The movie, however, seems to make the wrong decision at almost every opportunity, trying for the kind of melodramatic tragedy that only works in opera. Motion pictures like this need a firm grounding in reality which, sadly, director David Cronenberg has failed to provide.
This seems to be one of Cronenberg's least regarded films, and the negative reviews it received focus on the fact that it's extremely unlikely that anyone would ever mistake John Lone for a woman. I don't see that as a fault with the film, in fact, I think that's the point. Cronenberg has always been fascinated by the descent into madness and abjection, and this film seems to be about Jeremy Irons giving up everything for an obsession that is clearly delusional. If we could easily understand his self-deception, like we can in "The Crying Game", then this would be about something very different. I don't think this is among his best films, but it's not a bad film. Irons is in top form.
Irons' character is egoistic, flawed, self-centered - not the guy to evoke sympathy. But by the end, he is an incredibly sympathetic character who has lost all for love. Need to be open-minded, but it's powerful.
cinegeek.de Our Daily Free Stream: David Cronenberg - M Butterfly. Our Daily Free Stream: David Cronenberg - M Butterfly. Wie ist es möglich, einen Mann 20 Jahre lang zu lieben und dabei zu glauben, er sei eine Frau? Das soll auch noch einem Franzosen passieren (wo doch die Franzosen spezialisiert sind auf sexuelle Angelegenheiten!), der einen Star der Peking Oper liebt? David Henry Hwang stellt diese Fragen in seinem Stück M. Butterfly, das von David Cronenberg verfilmt wurde. Die Antwort, wehalb Rene Gallimard auf diesen Holzweg gelang geht so: Er wusste es nicht, weil er es nicht wissen wollte. Gallimard liebte 20 Jahre lang die Frau seiner Träume und da zählte die Realität für ihn eben nicht. Diese Erklärung klingt wie romantischer Idealismus, wobei Hwang noch eine zusätzliche düstere Note suggestiert: Gallimard erlag der westlichen Vorstellung der Unterwürfigkeit der asiatischen Frau. Verzweifelt brauchte er diese Frau als "Butterfly" seiner Träume, dass er auf alle gegenteiligen Beweise blind reagierte. Sein Selbstbetrug setzt den Rahmen, in dem die Asiatin seigreich vom Felde zieht über den Europäer. Im Theater mochte das Publikum, genauso wie der Hauptdarsteller im Stück, diesen Betrug nicht erkennen. Im Kino ist das leider unmöglich. John Lone als Song Liling, der Transvestit, wirkt nicht wie eine überzeugende Frau (und vielleicht sollte er das auch gar nicht?). Rene Gallimard wird gespielt von Jeremy Irons, der wie kein zweiter die gequälte Sexualität zu seinem Inventar als Schauspieler machte. Wer sonst könnte eine solche Obsession besser spielen? immer wird er von "ihr" auf Abstand gehalten, doch er folgt - 20 Jahre lang. "Are you my Butterfly?", fragt er in einem Moment grössten Schmerzes. Song bejaht. Er ist schliesslich nur das, was Gallimard sich wünscht. Der Film spielt in Peking, einer Stadt, die der westliche Besucher womöglich exotischer findet, als er sollte. Er verliebt sich auf den ersten Blick in Song Liling während einer Vorstellung. Gallimard vergisst seine Ehefrau daheim und steigert sich in eine verrückte Passion. Einen Moment der Angst erlebt Song, er könnte auffliegen. Angesichts seines willfähigen Partners scheint diese Sorge aber unbegründet. Schliesslich hilft er sich mit der Ankündigung, er sei schwanger... Alles in allem klingt das interessant. Ich habe das Theaterstück nie gesehen, kann mir aber die Wirkung vorstellen. Der Film aber ist ein zu realistisches Format, um diese Geschichte von Illusion und Täuschung zu transportieren. Lones Stimme wirkt auf mich auch viel zu tief und monoton. Eine überzeugende Erklärung auf die Frage, wie Gallimard nicht merken konnte, dass Song ein Mann ist, bleibt Cronenbergs Film bis zum Schluss schuldig. Ohne die Antwort aber, funktioniert die Geschichte nicht. noch mehr Filme mit dem Schauplatz China in unserer Film List auf cinegeek.de
Cronenberg in his uncharted territorium: this being drama-love, dosnt work out as well as his more common-style films. Casting Jeremy Irons as a foregin diplomat, who fells in love with a oriental-beauty. A relationship based on nothing good, don't tend to end that way either. Visually and plot-vise this is not a bad movie, though it may lack the "superior" drama to tip up to higher rating.
Stage show is far superior to the film.
Perhaps a little condensed from its original form, and not as visceral as Cronenburg's more famous works, 'M. Butterfly' still provides a well-produced and emotional tale of love, belief & deception. The key driving force of the film is really our two leads, with Irons being predictably solid though Lone is the bigger revelation, being able to play both genders rather convincingly, allowing us to buy his deception more.
The much maligned Cronenberg film that is overdue a reassessment .
A most enthralling, sad disastor of a relationship, French diplomat in China is seduced by a spy mistress. Based on a true story. Jeremy Irons was most compelling as the cheating husband who loses all for the love of this Chinese spy, even to the point of treason. In 1960s China, French diplomat Rene Gallimard falls in love with an opera singer, Song Liling - but Song is not at all who Gallimard thinks. At the height of the Vietnam War, Rene unwittingly is leaking secret information of U.S. troop involvement in the war to the Chinese. [img]http://fandomania.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/songliling.jpg[/img] actor John Long as "Butterfly" the mistress Everything about the picture technically is fine by me. The ending is terribly embarressing to watch, that this diplomat was lured for years by this Chinese fraud. Would encourage you NOT to read any summary of the film as it would spoil the ending for sure. John Lone was brilliante in his depiction of the Chinese lover spy. M. Butterfly is a 1993 romantic drama film directed by David Cronenberg. PLOT: "Loosely based on true events (see Bernard Boursicot and Shi Pei Pu), the film concerns René Gallimard (Jeremy Irons), a French diplomat assigned to Beijing, China in the 1960s. He becomes infatuated with a Chinese opera performer, Song Liling (John Lone), who spies on him for the Government of the People's Republic of China."-- wikipedia [img]http://kategale.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/m-butterfly-1993-13810-359187868.jpg[/img] SEE the entire film here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78fyu5ti7Lk REVIEWS by those like us: 80% When so many scenes stick with you for you to mull over weeks later, you know the film did something well. This film is weird, melodramatic, and leave... Jeremy Irons as René Gallimard John Lone as Song Liling Ian Richardson as Ambassador Toulon Barbara Sukowa as Jeanne Gallimard Annabel Leventon as Frau Baden Shizuko Hoshi as Comrade Chin Vernon Dobtcheff as Agent Entacelin [img]https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR0HRFNXG9FGLZhhaK6y-1UAoWAerwl7P7-0-_aD8ctffnq8qrBSQ[/img] after the trial Directed by David Cronenberg Produced by Gabriella Martinelli Screenplay by David Henry Hwang Based on M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang Music by Howard Shore Cinematography Peter Suschitzky Editing by Ronald Sanders Studio Geffen Pictures Distributed by Warner Bros. Release dates October 1, 1993 Running time 101 minutes Country United States Language English Box office $1,498,795 [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3b/M_Butterfly_poster.jpg/215px-M_Butterfly_poster.jpg[/img]