M. BUTTERFLY (WB, 1993) D: David Cronenberg, w/ Jeremy Irons, John Lone. Rating: NNN DVD package: NNN Rating: NNN
It’s been a long wait for M. Butterfly’s DVD debut. Maybe that’s because it wasn’t well liked on theatrical release and isn’t fondly remembered today. But it’s not a bad movie. Far from it. I’d call it an interesting failure leavened by a wealth of beautiful visuals and richly nuanced performances from Jeremy Irons and John Lone.
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The first problem is the story. In 1964 Beijing, a mid-level French diplomat (Irons) falls for a Beijing opera singer (Lone). She’s spying on him, but that stays in the background and there’s nothing else to drive the story forward. So by the one-hour mark, we’re wondering if this East-meets-West romance is going anywhere. Interest fades away, helped along by the relentlessly solemn tone and monotonous pace.
Interest brightens right up at the finale when a major revelation unleashes forces as emotionally disturbing and complex as anything in David Cronenberg’s work.
The secret that’s revealed is the second major problem. I don’t believe it for a second, and I doubt that you will, which is a little strange, since this is based on a true story later made into a successful play. In any case, without belief, the whole thing collapses.
Cronenberg lays out his own ideas about the movie’s cool reception in his articulate, insightful 15-minute interview. He thinks we should know the secret going in. I think he’s being disingenuous, but he makes a good case, and I’ll bolster it a little by noting that M. Butterfly is a better movie on second viewing.
EXTRAS Cronenberg interview. Widescreen. English audio. English, French, Spanish subtitles.
