Poslední motýl (1991)

Director:

Karel Kachyna

Writers:

Ota Hofman (writer)
Michael Jacot (story)

Release Date:

14 August 1991 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Stage mime Antoine Moreau (Tom Courtenay) is compelled by the Gestapo to put on a performance for the children of Terezin...

Plot Keywords:

Bathtub | Child Full Frontal Nudity | Nude Sleeping | Female Full Frontal Nudity | Child Nudity

Cast

Tom Courtenay	...	Antoine Moreau
Brigitte Fossey	...	Vera
Ingrid Held	...	Michele
Freddie Jones	...	Karl Rheinberg
Milan Knazko	...	Gruber
Josef Kemr	...	Stadler
Ludek Kopriva	...	Laub
Pavel Bobek	...	Silberstein
Josef Laufer	...	Petersen
Drahomira Fialkova	...	Stadlerova
Rudolf Pellar	...	Leroux
Jirí Lír	...	Steiner
Hana Hegerová	...	Singer in the Ghetto
Jitka Molavcová	...	Gruber's Secretary
Linda Jablonska	...	Stella

Also Known As:

Cri du papillon, Le (France)
Dernier papillon, Le (France)
The Last Butterfly

Runtime:

USA:106 min (DVD) | Brazil:118 min

Country:

Czechoslovakia | France | UK

Language:

Czech | English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:PG-13

Company:

Atlantique Productions

Soundtrack:

Orphee aux enfres

The Last Butterfly is brilliant

This is the ONLY Holocaust film that is neither maudlin nor sensational but that delivers a punch with all the impact of a Hollywood blockbuster, but none of the glitz. Don't be put off by the fact that it's a foreign film (made before Czechoslovakia had been divided in two). It doesn't have that "dubbed" quality of a lot of foreign, English-language films. The acting, direction (and a wonderfully moving score that tracks the story line)and script are all synchronized in a stunning style. In fact, the European element helps to make it far more genuine than anything that's come out of Hollywood. One gets a sense that the filmakers and the actors were really plugged in to the history of what is, after all, a real story--that of the Nazi's "City of the Jews." This was a ruse of the Nazis to "prove" to the international community that they were taking care of "their" Jews by keeping them camped in segregated communities that had all the comforts of home. Of course, in reality, there was a back door track to the concentration camps that visitors were never shown.

But again, what makes this film so special is its avoidance of any pretense. The film makers don't milk the tragedy any more than it has to be. And the evil characters are not stereotyped into cardboard cut outs. And the heroes--well, there really are none, despite some heroic acts by normal folks.

Buy this film if you can. You'll want to pass it on to your kids.