M. Butterfly (1993)

A most curious and interesting film; René Gallimard, a French middle level diplomat in postwar Beijing (played by Jeremy Irons) becomes infatuated with a Chinese opera actress, Song Liling (John Lone). She has been singing the prima donna in a concert performance of Madame Butterfly. He is evidently captivated by her, and he manages to intercept her in the street outside the theatre. They exchange pleasantries, but she is critical of Western ideas about the orient and challenges him to improve himself by attending a Chinese opera performance.

Three weeks later he does so, and is further infatuated as she performs the lead role in a Chinese tale. He evidently doesn't realise that female roles in Chinese opera were performed by men at this stage, and in fact Song's gender is not made clear to us at this stage. He manages to see her backstage, and again she is not especially welcoming.

However when she has finished getting back into her street clothes, they walk back together and she seems to be warming to him. The next morning Gallimard's wife asks him why he was so late getting in, and he lies that he was with friends.

We later see them at a beauty spot on the Great Wall, picnicking, and she asks him why he chose her, a flat-chested Chinese girl.

Then back at Song's house, we see that Song is confronted by a party official who has discovered that she is studying Western sex magazines. She criticises her for conforming to Western stereotypes and to defend herself, she hints that she can obtain secrets from Gallimard, and that this is the only reason she is behaving as she does.

Gallimard comes to her one evening very drunk and insists on seeing her naked -- evidently he hasn't done so before. She finally acquiesces in letting him caress her, but before he gets to the stage of removing her clothes, she says that she is pregnant. He has mixed emotions, but is clearly going to stay with her; shortly afterwards we see Song retelling state secrets to the party official. The official dislikes Song's involvement with Gallimard, but acquiesces because of the intelligence she is obtaining. As the official leaves, Song asks her if she knows why female roles in Chinese opera are played by men; she tells the official that it is because only a man knows how a woman is supposed to react.

Incidentally it is only in this scene that for the first time we see a little beard shadow on Song's lips and chin.

Now we see Song waiting for Gallimard with a baby; his son, she says. Gallimard is enraptured by the baby, but suddenly Song reveals that as the Cultural Revolution has gathered pace, all artistes like her are regarded as criminals, and she is being sent away to a labour camp.

Gallimard too loses his job at the embassy because of misjudgements he had made about political events, and he is sent home in disgrace; having divorced his wife, his life is now a shambles, until one evening he is sitting in his flat moping, when someone calls at the door; it is Song. They embrace and she moves in.

Much later we see Gallimard, now working as a motorcycle courier; he seems to be making a delivery, but he is suddenly arrested by Domestic Intelligence officials. Soon we are in court, and Song is brought in in male clothing, and handcuffed. Song gives evidence that Gallimard was regularly carrying diplomatic intelligence material and allowing Song to pass it on to the Chinese. The prosecution now asks Song whether Gallimard understood that Song was in fact a man, and Song says that in all the years they were together, Gallimard never saw Song naked. How was that possible? asks the prosecution. Song says that "He was very responsive to my ancient Oriental ways of love, all of which I invented myself, just for him". The prosecution pursues the issue of whether Gallimard knew Song was a man, but there is no conclusive outcome.

Song and Gallimard are taken away in a police van together; at first there is mutual contempt between them, but Song tries to involve Gallimard again. He strips naked and at first Gallimard is revolted, but Song wheedles into his affections for a moment; but the moment passes and Gallimard is revolted again. It's interesting that Song's adam's apple is more visible now than it was before; and also his shoulders are quite muscular and masculine.

Song goes back to China, presumably under diplomatic immunity, but we see Gallimard in jail; no doubt he has gone down for a long time for espionage. He is getting hismelf made up for a performance as Madame Butterfly for the other prisoners.

But in fact he takes the opportunity to slash his jugular vein and he tragically dies, with blood everywhere.

This is a faithful film version of the David Henry Hwang play, with heavy references to the Puccini opera Madame Butterfly, in which the Japanese girl is eventually deserted by an American naval officer; here the genders are reversed, with René Gallimard the one who is cheated on. In the film we are never sure how much Song Liling truly returns René's love; nor whether René actually knew that he was making love to a man: his reaction when "his" baby was produced suggests that he did not. Moreover the Chinese political offical gives no hint that she knew Song was a man. Whatever, it all ends in disaster, as it must, with a further reference to René's destiny as Madame Butterfly.

Some critics condemn the film for failing to develop the characters or the background adequately; I found it moving, but eventually disappointing because the plot doesn't really go anywhere.

The story is based on the true events of a French diplomat Bernard Boursicot and the Chinese man Shie Pei Pu, who both received six year prison sentences in 1986 for espionage.

HF 2000

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