Featured Audience Ratings

• Emil K

  
  Unremarakble but also overlooked film from David Cronenberg who quite honestly is too often concerned about his slimy and gory effects than the story itself. With M. Butterfly he makes welcome shift from those horror-films of his into more complex psychological approach and what… More
  Unremarakble but also overlooked film from David Cronenberg who quite honestly is too often concerned about his slimy and gory effects than the story itself. With M. Butterfly he makes welcome shift from those horror-films of his into more complex psychological approach and what begins as a sophistacetd love story between two men slowly turns into a twisty thriller with devastating emotional effect. I admire Cronenbeg's way to handle his material and the hypnotic quality of this film, but there is something that left me cold here. That seems to be usual problem with Cronenberg's films. They sometimes feel awfully clinical. It might be stylistic purpose of Cronenberg, but sometimes it just does not go hand in hand with material as in here. Jeremy Irons and John Lone are both magnificent in their roles but if only Cronenberg would give more heart to this tragic love affair, then it would even possibly become one of Cronenberg's greatest works. Now it is just average work in his filmography. There are still some quite effective moments, like the heartstopping climax, here.

• Tim S

  
  Strange film, even for Cronenberg.

• Elvira B

  
  David Cronenberg's strength is bringing out the humanity of the oddest characters in the oddest situations. Perhaps the well-known story of M Butterfly was too narrow for him to experiment? Perhaps he decided it was best to stick to the play as faithfully as possible? I… More
  David Cronenberg's strength is bringing out the humanity of the oddest characters in the oddest situations. Perhaps the well-known story of M Butterfly was too narrow for him to experiment? Perhaps he decided it was best to stick to the play as faithfully as possible? I don't know what happened, but the imaginative, irreverent, twisted, the king of psychosexual dramas that David Cronenberg has always been and that I have always loved, is repressed. Little inventiveness. All in all, a very conventional film. The upside: beautiful cinematography, excellent performance from John Lone and Jeremy Irons. Jeremy Irons can do no wrong. He always plays very similar, tortured characters, but does a great job in every occasion. Rene Gallimard is a blind, vague character, but Irons pulls out the best of him. I would watch the film only to see that. Bottomline: this could have been fantastic! It's just good.

• Walter M

  
  In "M Butterfly," Rene Gallimard(Jeremy Irons) is a minor official at the French embassy in Beijing in 1964. As such, he is tired of the tedious events on the social circuit, until he watches a performance of "Madama Butterfly" for the first time and is smitten… More
  In "M Butterfly," Rene Gallimard(Jeremy Irons) is a minor official at the French embassy in Beijing in 1964. As such, he is tired of the tedious events on the social circuit, until he watches a performance of "Madama Butterfly" for the first time and is smitten with Song Liling(John Lone), the lead performer. This infatuation leads him to seek a performance of Chinese opera along with a passionate affair between the two, unbeknowst to Rene's wife Jeanne(Barbara Sukowa). At the same time, he comes to the attention of Ambassador Toulon(Ian Richardson) and is promoted to vice consul. "M Butterfly" is an underrated, very evocative and well-acted movie that touches on David Cronenberg's recurring theme of forbidden love(So, maybe he is a big softie at heart...) while also much more political than his other movies.(David Henry Hwang adapts his own play.) Subtly, the point is we see what we want to see, applied personally to Rene who is from a cloistered background.(Hell, even I've seen a performance of "Madama Butterfly.") This is a more modest time when men and women might still have been old fashioned enough to not undress in front of each other. While open to new experiences, he is also very naive in miscomprehending them. Rene is symbolic of the French government which is a decade removed from being forcibly removed from Vietnam, just got ejected from Algeria and are still analyzing Asia through their own colonial preconceptions which leads to vast mistakes, and continues in the present day with other countries in the Middle East.

• Tobias X

  
  David Cronenberg's most bland and disappointing work. Ironic, seeing how the source material is so interesting.

• Daisy M

  
  One of David Cronenburg's best,M.Butterfly, is based on a true story. John Lone is awesome as madame butterfly and Jeremy Irons is in his usual cold, upper class self role. I simply enjoyed this gentleman on screen. Perfect casting for a director filming a moving story of love… More
  One of David Cronenburg's best,M.Butterfly, is based on a true story. John Lone is awesome as madame butterfly and Jeremy Irons is in his usual cold, upper class self role. I simply enjoyed this gentleman on screen. Perfect casting for a director filming a moving story of love and loss. For those who love this story itself, you will definitely agree how this movie perfectly described a story which tells " only in real life could love become so unreal." Also this is a good movie to watch if you are interested in the type of movie which entangle east and west, love and betrayal, passion and illusion... Highly recommending..

• Leo L

  
  A personal favorite.

Read all 7 featured audience ratings