Product Details

• Actors: Michel Serrault, Claire Bouanich, Nade Dieu, Jacques Bouanich, Jerry Lucas (II)
• Directors: Philippe Muyl
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
• Language: French
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: FIRST RUN FEATURES
• DVD Release Date: October 19, 2004
• Run Time: 80 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002S64SM
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #15,496 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #65 in	Movies & TV > Art House & International > European Cinema > France > Drama
  #85 in	Movies & TV > Art House & International > By Original Language > French

• For more information about "The Butterfly" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Review

An exceptionally satisfying film of much grace and beauty. --Los Angeles Times

Product Description

Legendary actor Michel Serrault stars as Julien, an ornery butterfly collector. When eight-year-old Elsa and her often-absent mother move into the apartment next to his, the persistent and curious Elsa adopts a reluctant Julien as her surrogate grandpa. But when Julien leaves town for a week-long hiking expedition in the Alps to find the "Isabella," an exotic butterfly as elusive as it is beautiful, he instead discovers an uninvited companion - Elsa!

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Film That Both Charms and Delights, October 4, 2006

By	Timothy Kearney (Hull, MA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I intended to see THE BUTTERFLY at a French Film Festival here in Boston a few years ago, but I purchased the tickets on line and must have made a mistake, because I was given tickets for another film that was showing on the same day at a later time. I then rented the DVD or what I thought was the DVD but didn't pay careful attention to the box and saw a Spanish film with the same title, a worthwhile film, but not what I wanted to see. Seeing this film was becoming as much of a challenge as finding the elusive as the butterfly that the main character is searching for in the film. Finally I had the correct DVD in hand, and saw a simple film that is both moving and charming.

THE BUTTERFLY (LE PAPILLON) is a relatively short (about eighty minutes) film that tells the story of a friendship that grows between a young girl and a man old enough to be her grandfather. Julien (Michel Surrault) is an older gentleman who has a passion for collecting butterflies. A young mother and her daughter Elsa move in the same apartment building. Elsa (Claire Bouanich) is often left alone and one day, as Julien leaves for a trip to find an elusive butterfly, the Isabella, Elsa is left alone. He has a choice: either he can leave Elsa with the police or he can take her with him. He chooses the latter, due more to impatience with the wait at the police station than any kind of attachment to the girl, and it is on the trip the two bond. We learn as the film progresses why Julien is alone and the importance of finding the Isabella for both characters.

The story of a young spirit touching the heart of a lonely older person is familiar and has been told in many different ways in films the world over, yet THE BUTTERFLY manages to tell it in an original way. The film is gorgeous to watch, especially the mountain scenes, and it never gets sentimental though it tugs at the heart. It's an enjoyable film to watch and a great film to have in a DVD collection to watch again and again.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect, March 23, 2006

By	S. E. Fanning (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I can't add much to the previous reviews of the movie but to say that this is an exquisite film. It's one of those movies that make you think, "Why aren't more movies like this..."

It's also a great movie for students of French to watch. The language is very easy compared to most French language hmovies.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous, May 29, 2005

By	V. Martinez - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a beautiful story of what the old can teach the young and vice versa.
A lovely young girl is neglected by here mother and is taken butterfly hunting by an elderly neighbor. The conversations exchanged between the two are priceless.