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Madame Butterfly, Film Version

Frederic Mitterrand, Director

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An acclaimed cinematic adaptation of Puccini's popular opera about the tragic love affair between a naive geisha and the American naval officer who deserts her and their young child. Nominated for two French Cesar awards.

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Like the finest of film scores with its fluid beauty and succession of intensely romantic tunes, Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly has a surprisingly cinematic feel. In 1995 director Frederic Mitterand exploited this quality of the story, exposing a young woman's disillusionment against a backdrop of cultural chasms. Shot on location, with Tunisia doubling convincingly as a turn-of-the-century Nagasaki, this Butterfly shines with fragile beauty. The house becomes a brilliantly used set, at once airy and full of the scent of flowers and at the same time a cage for the trapped woman.

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Archive footage of bygone Nagasaki is used skillfully to underline the distance between the 15-year-old bride and Pinkerton. (Description from Amazon.com)

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