THE BUTTERFLY

THE BUTTERFLY is a sweet story about a neglected little girl named Elsa (Claire Bouanich) who desperately befriends her 70-year-old neighbor, butterfly collector Julien (Michel Serrault). When Elsa’s irresponsible and often absent mother Isabelle doesn’t return home after a couple of days, the girl secretly slips into Julien’s car and joins him on a trip into the mountains to hunt for a rare butterfly. The old man doesn’t care what others think of him, and the little girl doesn’t know any better. This openness allows them to experience true intimacy that softens the older and matures the younger.

It turns out that Elsa’s elusive mother has the same name as the butterfly that Julien is hunting. Both the old man and the little girl are trying to find their own “Isabelle” and the love they associate with her. Once, Julien’s son asked his father to bring him an Isabelle butterfly. His son died years before Julien could fulfill his request, but this latest trip into the mountains is another attempt to bring closure by keeping a promise to his late son. Meanwhile, Elsa was born when Isabelle was 16-years-old. Elsa’s father disappeared when he found out about Isabelle’s pregnancy. It seems that the girls have moved several times over the short span of Elsa’s eight-year life. Isabelle is the only mother who doesn’t pick her daughter up from school and sometimes doesn’t return home for four days at a time because she is “visiting friends.” Elsa looks forward to spending quality time with her mom, especially without mom’s friends. She longs to know that somebody loves her, especially mom.

While in the mountains, Julien and Elsa talk about a variety of issues, but probably the most poignant are those that deal with the hearts of mankind. Julien tells Elsa, “Lots of people live as though they had eternity before them, but no one is ever sure of having time to finish his sentence.” Later, he tells her a bedtime tale of Judgment Day; all the animals come before God and are found faultless – they’ve done what they were created to do. Man, however, is found severely lacking, which results in war and death, but God allows everyone to come into heaven. When the animals question why God would let horrible mankind in, He replies, “It’s my fault.” He goes on to explain that He only took seven days to create the heavens, earth, and all the creatures on the earth. “If I had taken two weeks,” says God, “I may have done a better job.” In another scene, Elsa asks if it is okay to tell lies. Julien says that everyone lies to some degree or another, but the main thing is not to lie to yourself.

There are also beautiful scenes of the butterflies in various stages of life, from caterpillar to pupa to hatching from cocoons, all the way to a fully formed butterfly. Elsa even gets a bit of sex education based on how butterflies pollinate asexual flowers.

THE BUTTERFLY maintains a moral or Christian-friendly worldview without acknowledging Christ. When God is mentioned, however, He is said to be imperfect. Other thematic elements that may make this film problematic for small children include: child abandonment; Julien telling of how he watched his son waste away; Elsa witnessing and being profoundly affected by the killing of a deer as it is being observed by she and Julien (the action happens off-screen – only a shot is heard and then a limp deer is seen being carried away). These potentially problematic elements are handled sensitively, giving the biblically wise, media-wise family a great centerpiece for discussion of the wonders of nature or the fruit of sin.