Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by jamesgarvin (A) on May 23, 2006 at 07:05:49

2002 French film starring Michel Serrault as a butterfly collector. Both dead and live butterflies. He has a room in his apartment dedicated to butterflies, where they flutter free among lush foliage. I think I spent some time in a room like that at the local zoo.

Claire Bouanich plays a little girl who lives two floors up, and whose mother is one of those part time mothers. Her other part time job seems to be partying.

Naturally, Claire, by herself, stumbles upon Serrault. He takes her to his apartment, where he teaches her a little about butterflies. Fortunately, this coincides with the time of the year when a reclusive butterfly makes it's appearance in the mountains, and so hte little girl accompanies Serrault on his journey to capture the butterfly.

Along the way they meet various people. But the journey is mostly about the two of them bonding, learning from each other, and her learning some of the ways of the world, not entirely pleasant.

The film is not overly complicated. I found myself disliking the first act. The little girl seemed to be imported from the Hollywood school of cutesy little girls who ask cutesy questions and do cutesy things, intended to elicit "aws" from the audience. But then the film does an-about face beginning in the second act. Gone is the cutesy girl, replaced by intelligent dialog and adult issues.

The film is also intelligently written, beginning with the second act. Issues like hunting, poaching, parent's relationships with children are handled in a very matter of fact way, as though these events are part of life, rather than life. For example, there is a reason why Serrault is searching for this butterfly. The film lets us believe that he is simply wants to add it to his collection. We then learn, in a hearfelt, very well acted, understated scene with a local father they meet on the journey, why he is seeking this particular butterfly. There is a explanation, and then the film continues. To me, this is what distinguishes a foreign film from it's Hollywood counterpart (aside from the way they each treat sex). A Hollywood film would have added so much drama, crying, and made the film about the disclosure. The French film simply explains, let's the actor very subtedly display his emotion, then the film moves on. That explanation is why they are making the journey, but it is not what drives the film. Well done.

I enjoyed this film the more I watched. In that respect, it was like a good wine that is better when allowed to breathe. Survive the first act and the cutesiness of the little girl, and you are rewarded with a well acted, adult, family type film. A film that has the ingredients of a little syrup, but none of the stickiness.