M. BUTTERFLY is a sad misfire from David Cronenberg. Based off of a play, and definitely creepy, M. BUTTERFLY's creepiness actually undermines it. Rather than taking its political / social statement seriously, the story becomes mired in silliness and weirdness. The story is about an Englishman named Rene (Jeremy Irons) who lives in China working for the British embassy. He meets an opera singer who he dubs Butterfly, who teaches him about Chinese culture. One of her theories centers around the opera Madame Butterfly. She tells him that the Chinese hate the opera, because it's about an oriental woman sacrificing herself for a white man. Rene, however, becomes infatuated with Butterfly, and over the years fashion her as his own Madame Butterfly. The joke however, is on him, for, quite obviously so, Butterfly is a man, and is stealing secrets about the embassy from him. This is an interesting premise, but Cronenberg doesn't handle it well. The film is occasionally boring and disingenuous. Either Cronenberg doesn't trust that the audience knows Butterfly is a man, or he knows that we will and goes through boring reveals anyway. Basically, M. BUTTERFLY is a real disappointment and probably Cronenberg's weakest film. There's a story to tell here, but the way that Cronenberg tells it is too unattractive to be appealing or even admirable.
M. Butterfly: ★★
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