Butterfly

I think this is a nice movie...A great one...This is the first homosexual HongKong movie I watched... A harmony homosexual movie, there isn't any visible nudity involved... The scenes will be mainly kissing scenes of actresses... I think that their kissing were great, when they were kissing, they don't give me the feeling that they were acting, I think that there is nothing to be criticized, without knowing the real characters of the 2 actresses, I would definitely think that they are the real couple in life...After I watch this movie, Tian Yuan really deserves the New Actress Award, she is a great actress in this movie... Passion, is what I can conclude from this movie. I would definitely recommend it to my friends...

The second feature from Hong Kong independent director Yan Yan Mak has been one of the most talked about films of 2004. A small-scale film that sits on the border of independent and commercial film-making, Butterfly premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2004 as the Opening Film for the International Critics' Week. It has since been invited to many film festivals around the world, including Stockholm, Pusan, Tokyo, Bangkok, India, Brazil and Australia. It also received two nominations at Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards in 2004: Best Screenplay Adaptation for Mak and Best New Performer for Tian Yuan.

Butterfly is adapted from Taiwanese author Chen Hsueh's short story "The Mark of the Butterfly". Starring Josie Ho, Eric Kot, Tian Yuan, Isabel Chan and Joman Chaing, it is about a woman's struggle to come to terms with her true self, the importance to break out from her cocoon and set herself free.

Like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis, Flavia finds her lesbian passion reawakened after a chance encounter with a carefree and spirited singer / songwriter. A shattering new film form award-winning director Yan Yan Mak (Gege, 2001), Butterfly alternates between the past and the present, juxtaposing a romance to a rebellious human rights activist in 1989 with her current struggles as a wife and mother. Fronted by a brave and sympathetic...

A very sweet film about sexual awakening. Many have commented that the romance blossoms too quickly, which for me completely misses the point. The reason the attractive builds into romance so fast is due to the feelings of nostalgia it raises in Flavia. One of the most honest and beautiful subjects of this film is to see selfish lust drift into actual love. For Flavia, love is at first an escape. It reminds her of when she felt young and wanted. For Yip, it's a chance to be with an older woman that will support her during the building of her music career. As the events unfold it doesn't leave the world unaffected. Flavia's marriage begins to crumble, and her husband is portrayed as sweet, but too reliant on her. We get a feeling that Flavia has been forced into this life against her will. The past is sent against a political backdrop that raises tensions. I watched this on Blu-Ray which just emphasized the stunning photography. A real quiet gem of a film, which hides enough of the relationship to make it an ambiguous study open for interpretation.

It'll be a little difficult to express my every opinion on Butterfly.

First of all, the youthful love and passion between Jin & Flavia is portrayed more than well; although I thought (young) Flavia isn't much of a character compared to (young) Jin. Jin on the other hand is interesting and deeper, although she too is a commonly seen character in life or in movies: the smart and angry high school girl. But it's not a cliché, it's reality. She has deep ideas about life, about the question of life and that's a fact. Most people do that, especially at that age. I really could relate to the scenes involving those two, cos I was there too, kind of.. Being that young and in love was very similar in my situation. I think this is actually important in a movie, cos empathy is one thing some movies are designed to give you, but most (of those who claim they can) usually can't be so close to life. This is something I like about Asian movies, I'm not a big fan of the slow story lines but I appreciate their sense of reality.

About the story.. I believe it could've been told better. At times I felt like I was stuck in a movie that just won't go further. But this is independent cinema right? I can't and don't want to look for a Hollywood-type narrative. But I wish I could say it had a unique or at least not (mostly) boring way of narrative. But I can't, it's just too slow at times. I actually thought right before the end that it probably had been almost 3 hours since it started. The story wasn't new blood either, but it was good anyway. I don't need to discuss that.

The acting was generally good enough. Stephanie Che was brilliant. The woman who played Rosa was the only one I thought wasn't as good as the rest. But I'm not a critic, I'm a supporter. Just commenting.. I believe people can/should do whatever they like no matter how discouraged they are by others. I think it was the late reactions she gave in her lines, I don't know.

I gave the movie 5 out of 10, I could've given 6 though, considering it was in Chinese (subtitles are still obstacles against full comprehension) and for the sake of the scenes involving Jin & Flavia's love. Finally, it's nice and important to see homosexual visibility and issues in movies, that is really appreciated. This is pretty much what I think of Butterfly.

ps: I forgot to mention another thing about the movie: the kissing scenes between women. my god were they awful.. they were too conservative or just dull.

Salvo Daze

Almost every movie about gay or lesbian themes seem to have the same problem, they think they are saying something new and definitive about the topic, but really they repeating the same old trash.

According the cover of the DVD, butterfly was a bit of a shock horror scandal movie in Hong Kong. However there is little new to be said here. Flavia is a respectable married school teacher with a child. But when she was a school student she had a lesbian relationship.

She meets a girl in a supermarket who awakens her suppressed desires.

Using some interesting camera techniques to portray different times and feelings this makes this served to annoy me more than enlighten me (I think it is a Hong Kong, the camera is used to enforce a feeling or moment).

What happens in this movie is both beautifully told, but overly pedestrian. It could have been told in a much short way and really all that was being said was that if you are a lesbian you are a lesbian.

Still it is nice movie that might be good to watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon.