The Butterfly

Julien is an old man who collects butterflies. It is not a hobby; it is serious work and has gone on for years. There is a particular species he is after: a moth called the Isabella, seen only for a few days. An eight year old girl called Elsa lives in his building. Her mother is very young and pays her no attention; the child is mostly alone. Julien sets out for the mountains and Elsa follows him without telling anyone. By the time he finds out he has gone too far to take her back. The two stay in the mountains together. Below, her mother is looking for her and the police are treating it as an abduction. Philippe Muyl writes and directs. Michel Serrault plays Julien and Claire Bouanich plays Elsa. It is a French production. The butterfly at the centre is a real species; it is called the Isabella and is protected in France. The film took a strong result at the French box office and its song became known separately. The matter it treats is two solitudes; neither the old man nor the child counts himself alone, and the film does not say it. Michel Serrault does not make the character likeable; the man is bad tempered and does not want the child. The mountain and nature sections work inside the narrative and the butterfly material is accurate. Another strand is Julien's own son, and that opens at the end. Its limit is predictability; where the relationship will arrive is clear from the start and the resolution comes easily. Who it is for: viewers who like French family films and stories across generations. Who it is not for: it is predictable, the emotional steering high, and the ending too tidy.