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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Butterfly
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 23 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 5 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Jose Luis Cuerda
Rafael Azcona
Manuel Rivas
Directed by: Jose Luis Cuerda
Release Date:
Theatrical: June 16, 2000
DVD: February 20, 2001
Running Time: 93 minutes, Color
Origin: Spain
Language(s): Spanish (with English subtitles)
Summary
RATING: R for a strong sex scene
Starring Fernando Fernan Gomez, Manuel Lozano, and Uxia Blanco
Explores the extraordinary relationship between a shy young boy, Moncho (Lozano), and his incredibly compassionate teacher, Don Gregorio (Gomez), who teaches Moncho to find his way in a world that is increasingly frightening. (Miramax Films)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Philadelphia Inquirer Desmond Ryan
Manages the rare feat of being both bleak and deeply rewarding.
Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
Some delicately interwoven and unresolved subplots help make the young character's rite of passage wholly, disturbingly compelling.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
A movie of unforced nobility and quiet pleasures, Butterfly works on all sorts of levels.
Chicago Tribune John Petrakis
May be a bit sentimental for some, but I found its patient examination of how the forces of optimism can be overwhelmed by a wave of cruelty to be both moving and wise.
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
A powerful ending lends a strong emotional charge to this prettily filmed drama, but too much of the story is taken up with romantic clichés about the everyday challenges of childhood.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham
Has a saccharine quality but also offers a memorable performance by famed Spanish actor Fernando Fernan Gomez.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
A beautiful, harrowing film of understated power and perception that affords Fernando Fernán Gómez, the Spanish cinema's great, weathered veteran, yet another of his unforgettable performances.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Bill Gallo
The movies' time-honored old-man-and-boy theme has rarely been used to such great advantage.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Diverges to become something quite powerfully unnerving and guilt-ridden.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Because the film marches so inexorably toward its conclusion, it would be unfair to hint at what happens, except to say that it provides a heartbreaking insight into the way that fear creates cowards.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Butterfly doesn't require much knowledge of history to appreciate, but it really isn't suitable for very young audiences either.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
Outside national borders, this naive vantage point is an entry into a country's history and culture, explaining without seeming patronizing.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
An exploration of how fear and mob rule can poison even the purest of souls.
Mr. Showbiz Cody Clark
The story is a pleasant one despite its pointed righteousness.
Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
The film's climax was only one of several moments that left me utterly verklempt, without ever knowing that my buttons were being pushed.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
It's a rare film that can make us look so deeply into the dark soul of the seemingly benign.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Michael Atkinson
It's boilerplate Miramax: a sentimental import with lovingly photographed Euro locale.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan
The film isn't terrible, it's just trying too hard.
LA Weekly Ella Taylor
The family flags palpable agony... provides the movie's only earned emotional tension.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Though beautifully photographed, acted and written (the three source stories are skillfully blended into a single narrative), this leisurely, bittersweet look at a child's loss of innocence ends rather abruptly and inconclusively.
Read Full Review >Film.com Ernest Hardy
In the end, Butterfly is an infuriating film because it's so very contrived, so annoyingly phony.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Armando S. gave it a9:
A near masterpiece-one of the most compassionate movies i have ever seen-hearbreaking and still revelant-the director is wise to human failings in the face of adversity-a must see.
Yoon Min C. gave it a 7:
The plausibly shocking ending grows out of the delicately observed relationship between an impressionable young boy and wise elderly teacher. However, the political biases built into the movie are as simpleminded as the conservative townfolks it holds in contempt.
Francisco Gabriel Agrelo Rodríguez Spain gave it an 8:
I think it is great movie...It explores an oniric world.
