| Butterfly | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Yan Yan Mak |
| Produced by | Jacqueline Liu Yan Yan Mak |
| Written by | Xue Chen (novel) Yan Yan Mak (screenplay) |
| Starring | Josie Ho Tian Yuan Eric Kot Isabel Chen Joman Chiang |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | September 4, 2004 |
| Running time | 129 min. |
| Country | Hong Kong |
| Language | Cantonese, Mandarin |
Butterfly (Chinese: 蝴蝶 Húdié) is a 2004 Hong Kong film based on Taiwanese writer Xue Chen’s novel The Mark of Butterfly (蝴蝶的記號). The film was directed by female award-winning director Yan Yan Mak and produced by Jacqueline Liu and Yan Yan Mak with the sponsorship of Hong Kong Art Development Council.
Contents |
The film follows Flavia (Josie Ho), a married high school teacher, who encounters free spirited female singer-songwriter Yip (Tian Yuan) and strikes up a relationship with the younger girl. Flavia is a lesbian, but never can act like one because she was brought up in a society where homosexuality was not accepted. When Flavia was a teenager, she once fell in love with a girl in her class, but the relationship was forced to end when it was discovered by her parents. Flavia, heartbroken, eventually married a competent and caring businessman after she was graduated from university. Now in her 30s and married with a child, she met Yip, a beautiful singer-songwriter. Flavia is deeply attracted by her carefree personality and bright spirit, she fell in love with Yip just like the first love she had in high school. She slowly dares to break out, worried about the consequences but equally about finding her true self again.
The film features a set of interesting music and songs from various artistes such as Múm, an experimental Icelandic musical group; Hopscotch, Tian Yuan's independent Chinese band and at17, a Hong Kong Folktronica band.
Butterfly was chosen as the Opening Film at Venice Film Festival Critics Week and Tian Yuan was awarded as the Best New Artist at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2005. The film was also nominated at the Taiwan Golden Horse Awards in 2004 for Best Adapted Screenplay (Yan Yan Mak) and Best New Performer (Tian Yuan). Also, actress Josie Ho received a nomination at the Golden Bauhinia Awards for Best Actress and at ILMA Awards for Best Leading Actress, both in 2005.
Also, a blogger on Grace the Spot, a lesbian entertainment and pop culture blog, rated Butterfly as her favourite lesbian film.[1]
According to the commentary on the DVD, director Yan Yan Mak invited Ellen Joyce Loo and Eman Lam of at17 to star as two of Flavia’s students who also fall in love with each other, but they rejected the roles. The role later was taken by Isabel Chen and Joman Chiang.
There is a hidden music video of the song 'I will see you', sang by Tian Yuan, in the DVD (2005 Hong Kong version).
|
||||||||