M. Butterfly (1993)

Director:

David Cronenberg

Writers (WGA):

David Henry Hwang (play)
David Henry Hwang (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 October 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Opera | China | 1960s | Cultural Revolution | Betrayal

Awards:

1 win

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jeremy Irons	...	René Gallimard
John Lone	...	Song Liling
Barbara Sukowa	...	Jeanne Gallimard
Ian Richardson	...	Ambassador Toulon
Annabel Leventon	...	Frau Baden
Shizuko Hoshi	...	Comrade Chin
Richard McMillan	...	Embassy Colleague
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Agent Etancelin
David Hemblen	...	Intelligence Officer #1
Damir Andrei	...	Intelligence Officer #2
Antony Parr	...	Intelligence Officer #3
Margaret Ma	...	Song's Maid
Tristram Jellinek	...	Defense attorney
Philip McGough	...	Prosecution attorney
David Neal	...	Judge

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality and a brief bloody sequence.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Iceland:12 | Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | Singapore:R(A) | South Korea:18 | Australia:M | Finland:K-14 | Spain:18 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Company:

Geffen Pictures

Trivia:

The original Broadway production of "M. Butterfly" by David Henry Hwang opened on March 20, 1988 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, ran for 777 performances, won the 1988 Tony Award for Best Play and was nominated for the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Quotes:

Song Liling: The days I spent with you were the only days I ever truly existed.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Directors: The Films of David Cronenberg (#1.10)" (1999)

movie wise ... hhhmmmm

M.Butterfly was originally written for theater and I was quite intriqued when I saw the movie advertisment, I wanted to know how the story was going to be conveyed because I had a role in a production of M. Butterfly, which had been a memorable and an ego-boosting event (As I was only 15). I do not find that the characters were ambiguous, they were clear as night and day both in theater and in the movie.My prefernce goes to the theater production. And i disagree that M.butterfly is a story of love and loss, it was about a man who dreamed of the perfect woman and when that perfect "woman" came he was enchanted, he knew the truth all along but refuses to face up to it because he did not want to ruin HIS perception of HIS butterfly (him as the strong dominant western man and the "woman" he loves as the delicate oriental "lotus blossom")