The Trapped Butterfly

The Butterfly

a quickr pickr post

I was in love with the poster at first sight. Though the composition of the poster is simple, it somehow caught my attention right away. The glowing jar, in which a butterfly got trapped, was amusing and thought-provoking. The girl who’s holding the jar looked melancholy; the boy and the other girl embracing her looked even more melancholy. I was pretty sure there’s something (fishy) going on between them. It also made me wonder how the director would do with such an over-used, sometimes even cliché, traditional literature symbol: the butterfly.

I went to the movie theater when The Butterfly was released and I could not help feeling disappointed. I know I don’t understand Indonesian, but that should not stop me from enjoying the movie. After all, a movie is organic; its own style and tempo should guide the audience into the story. Even though the photography and soundtrack are beautifully and stylishly made, The Butterfly cannot really take off from the mud because there are too many unnecessary flashbacks dragging her back in. Until the very end of the movie can the flashbacks be integrated in sync and drive the film to the climax. If this editing style was made only for the ending, it would inevitably ruin the rest part of the film. After all, a butterfly needs more than a pair of wings to fly. Every part of it matters.

Besides the flow-disturbing editing, the story is shedding too much dog’s blood. This Taiwanese expression means something, especially the plot of a soap opera or movie, is too sensational. Though it’s a film about the life of college students and it provides some fun moments, most part of the film is full of steamy argument and hot tears. When there are too many emotional scenes in the movie, you cannot tell the difference from one to another. A movie is a container of emotions. If the container is getting too full, the content will start to flow over the edge. Let’s take the symbol of the film, a butterfly trapped in a jar, as an example. Well, what will happen if there are too many butterflies in the jar? Will it still be beautiful? A jar of dead butterflies is what it will be! Moreover, until the last minute of the movie, the symbol of the film is still locked inside the film, looking beautiful and never released. Pity.

Strangely, even though I don’t like the way the story is told in the movie, I like it. I’ve been caught humming the theme music of the Butterfly unconsciously for several times. Well, how I wish they could rearrange the editing and slightly revise the screenplay so that I can enjoy it better.