With so many species vanishing and others yet undiscovered I just watched a marvelous French movie about an elderly butterfly collector and a neglected eight-year-old girl who stows away in his car when he goes into the mountains to seek a rare and possibly extinct species of butterfly.The movie is out on DVD but the SBS (Oz) version I saw had far better subtitling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Butterfly_(2002_film
The Butterfly (2002) Le Papillon {France} [Galmuchet].torrent
http://bt.eutorrents.com/download.php?id=8e7bb03d31658a52db5649958d58ddbd0d735003
The movie has its precious moments. Collector Julien and little Elsa watch a deer and her fawn with wonder only
to see the mother gunned down
by poachers. Soon after Elsa catches a butterfly for Julien. He puts it in a
jar to die on cyanide and Elsa snarls at him: "Poacher!" Startled at first, the old man has to agree. At one stage the little girl asks: "How did Captain Hook die?" and her answer: "He scratched his balls!" My 6 y.o. grand-daughter thought that was hilarious.
At one level the story shows us details of what butterfly collection is all about- and the pressures that are
causing widespread species extinction. At another it is about human relations - a young mother who has failed to relate to her daughter, an old man who deeply misses his dead son, an unhappy girl who is striving to grow up as fast as she can.
At yet another level the story takes a swipe at those in our society who see sleaze behind every child-adult
relationship. The old man doe
s not have the heart to leave the child in the care of the gendarmerie, and when they are in the wilderness the girl changes the PIN on his mobile and then "loses" the sim chip.
The wilderness scenery is beautiful - alpine meadows with a grey haze of modern pollution in the background.
At the end we watch a butterfly emerging. There are softly erotic glimpses of what the child is growing into and at the end we see all too well that this is also about the transformation of a "feral" urban child into womanhood. Especially touching is the song that old Julien and young Elsa sing together at the end:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rp4leWiiS0&feature=related
Here is my own translation of that song and the included conversation:
E Why do chickens lay eggs?
Because eggs become chickens
E Who do people embrace?
To make the pigeons go "Coo! coo!"
E Who do the flowers fade?
It is the way things are
E Why is there a Devil and a God?
To keep the gossips talking.
E Why does wood burn?
It keeps us warm
E Why does the tide go out?
So we can enjoy the beach
E Why is the weeping willow gone?
To make room for another tree
E Why does the sun go away?
So we can enjoy the sunset
E Why is there a Devil and a God?
To keep the gossips talking.
E Why does the wolf eat the lamb?
Because he has to eat
E What about the hare and the tortoise?
The fastest does not always win
E Why do angels have wings?
It helps us believe in Santa
E Why is there a Devil and a God?
To keep the gossips talking.
Did you like our little journey?
E Yes, very much!
We've seen nice things, ay.
E I would like to have seen grasshoppers...
Grasshoppers!? Why grasshoppers?!
E And! Dragonflies too!
Ok, next time!
E Good! - can I ask you something?
What now?
E Another verse but this time YOU sing.
No way!
E Please!
No! No! No!
E Come on, it's the last verse!
It's a bit much!
E (Chuckle)
Why do our hearts go pitter-patter?
E Because the rain drip drops
Why does time pass so fast?
E Because the wind blows it away!
Why do you hold my hand?
E Because I am happy with you
Why is there a Devil and a God?
E To keep the gossips talking.
to see the mother gunned down
by poachers. Soon after Elsa catches a butterfly for Julien. He puts it in ajar to die on cyanide and Elsa snarls at him: "Poacher!" Startled at first, the old man has to agree. At one stage the little girl asks: "How did Captain Hook die?" and her answer: "He scratched his balls!" My 6 y.o. grand-daughter thought that was hilarious.
At one level the story shows us details of what butterfly collection is all about- and the pressures that are
causing widespread species extinction. At another it is about human relations - a young mother who has failed to relate to her daughter, an old man who deeply misses his dead son, an unhappy girl who is striving to grow up as fast as she can.
At yet another level the story takes a swipe at those in our society who see sleaze behind every child-adult
relationship. The old man doe
s not have the heart to leave the child in the care of the gendarmerie, and when they are in the wilderness the girl changes the PIN on his mobile and then "loses" the sim chip.The wilderness scenery is beautiful - alpine meadows with a grey haze of modern pollution in the background.
At the end we watch a butterfly emerging. There are softly erotic glimpses of what the child is growing into and at the end we see all too well that this is also about the transformation of a "feral" urban child into womanhood. Especially touching is the song that old Julien and young Elsa sing together at the end:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rp4leWiiS0&feature=related
Here is my own translation of that song and the included conversation:
E Why do chickens lay eggs?
Because eggs become chickens
E Who do people embrace?
To make the pigeons go "Coo! coo!"
E Who do the flowers fade?
It is the way things are
E Why is there a Devil and a God?
To keep the gossips talking.
E Why does wood burn?
It keeps us warm
E Why does the tide go out?
So we can enjoy the beach
E Why is the weeping willow gone?
To make room for another tree
E Why does the sun go away?
So we can enjoy the sunset
E Why is there a Devil and a God?
To keep the gossips talking.
E Why does the wolf eat the lamb?
Because he has to eat
E What about the hare and the tortoise?
The fastest does not always win
E Why do angels have wings?
It helps us believe in Santa
E Why is there a Devil and a God?
To keep the gossips talking.
Did you like our little journey?
E Yes, very much!
We've seen nice things, ay.
E I would like to have seen grasshoppers...
Grasshoppers!? Why grasshoppers?!
E And! Dragonflies too!
Ok, next time!
E Good! - can I ask you something?
What now?
E Another verse but this time YOU sing.
No way!
E Please!
No! No! No!
E Come on, it's the last verse!
It's a bit much!
E (Chuckle)
Why do our hearts go pitter-patter?
E Because the rain drip drops
Why does time pass so fast?
E Because the wind blows it away!
Why do you hold my hand?
E Because I am happy with you
Why is there a Devil and a God?
E To keep the gossips talking.
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2 comments:
When I hear papillon:
First I think of this:http://www.breederretriever.com/photopost/data/570/papillon_1.jpg
Then I think of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heIiWik2rpY
Reminds me off the film based on Georges Broussard from 2004:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blue_Butterfly_%28film%29
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