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THE BUTTERFLY Send This Review to a Friend
Older man bonds with a child in need and both their lives brighten. Such is the theme of the low-key but charming French film "The Butterfly." The distinguished actor Michel Serrault plays Julian, a lonely man who collects butterflies and is pestered by eight--year-old Elsa (Claire Bouanich), precocious but neglected by her mother (Nade Dieu), who is inundated trying to cope with her own life.
At first Julian resists Elsa, who is not one to take no for an answer. Looking for a father figure, as her own father vanished, she insinuates herself into Julian's life, and although she threatens his reclusive existence, he is intrigued by her. Claire Bouanich is cute, but not in the grating way of many child actors. His resistance word down, Julian agrees to take her with him on a trip to hunt a rare butterfly.
The relationship deepens into a kind of father-daughter connection, but when the mother discovers her child gone, a hunt ensues. Director Phillippe Muyl doesn't allow the film to get too sugary, but understated sweetness is there, as is the symbolism of a butterfly as an indicator of how Elsa can take flight as a happier person. Ultimately, Julien is able to impart advice to the mother in hope of getting her more involved with her daughter. Three lives have been changed for the better. A First Run Features release.
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