| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | The Butterfly (2002) |
| Director | Philippe Muyl |
| Writer | Philippe Muyl |
| Lead Actor | Michel Serrault |
| Cast | Michel Serrault, Claire Bouanich, Nade Dieu, Françoise Michaud, Gilles Naja |
| Genre | Drama, Family |
| Release Date | February 12, 2002 (France) |
| Duration | 1h 25m |
| Budget | $5 million |
| Language | French |
| IMDb Rating | 7.2/10 |
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This is a movie about the journey of three individuals to find their beauty within. In particular it’s the story of a crusty curmudgeon, Julien, who collects butterflies and only allows a cat into his life, and Elsa, the nine year old daughter of a single mother who moves into the upstairs apartment and upsets his hermetic life.
Julien, played by noted French actor Michel Serrault, is obsessive about his butterflies. The one butterfly that has eluded him is an extremely rare type named Isabella. Elsa (Claire Buanich, remarkable in her first role) is a precocious child who stoically endures the inattention she receives from her mother until, one day, Elsa’s mother doesn’t come home overnight. Elsa decides to run away and manipulates an extremely reluctant Julien into taking her with him on an expedition to the mountains where the Isabella butterfly can be found only three weeks a year.
While not a comedy as such, the film is filled with gentle humor as Julien tries to keep the irrepressible Elsa from insinuating herself into his affections as the two of them hike up the mountain.
Gradually the barrier between them begins to erode as Julien becomes a teacher of life lessons and Elsa continually asks questions. In aphorisms he teaches her about the meaning of love, about true riches and about life and death, among other things. But Julien is also a learner, taught by the wisdom that springs from the mouth of a child when she turns his words back on him.
Early in the journey we get a hint that there is more to the reticent Julien than we see, when Elsa asks him what a nightmare is. “It’s a dream gone bad,” he says, “like children.” We will later learn that his obsessive hunt for an Isabella butterfly was triggered by the request of his mentally ill son who eventually committed suicide.
Julien and Elsa’s journey is intercut with the young girl’s distraught mother triggering a police hunt for the daughter she believes has been kidnapped.
When an Isabella butterfly is finally found, then lost, Julien blames Elsa, causing her to run away. When he finds her the next morning she has fallen into a deep crevasse. He seeks police help, only to find himself arrested as Elsa is rescued.
In the end the butterfly becomes a metaphor for both of them, as well as Elsa’s mother, as they watch a beautiful butterfly emerge from the chrysalis that confines it. “We both went far away to find something,” Julien says, “but discovered it was waiting for us here.”
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