Movielogr

Rating: 7 stars

Tags

shout select shout factory China 1960s affair peking opera cultural revolution communism french diplomat espionage cross dressing spy traitor suicide prison based on a true story based on a play literary adaptation

All movies seen on 02/14/2022

View on: IMDb | TMDb

M. Butterfly (1993)

Directed by David Cronenberg

Drama | Romance

Overview

In 1960s China, French diplomat Rene Gallimard falls in love with an opera singer, Song Liling – but Song is not at all who Gallimard thinks.

Rated R | Length 101 minutes

Actors

Jeremy Irons | John Lone | Barbara Sukowa | Ian Richardson | Annabel Leventon | Shizuko Hoshi | Richard McMillan | Vernon Dobtcheff | David Hemblen | Damir Andrei | Antony Parr | Margaret Ma | Tristram Jellinek | Philip McGough | David Neal | Sean Hewitt | Peter Messaline | Michael Mehlmann | Barbara Chilcott | George Jonas | Carl Zvonkin | Viktor Fülöp | Cadman Chui | María Teresa Uribe | Harriet Chung | Monica Gan | Ayumi Komoda | Tammy Lok | Tracey Oh | Carly Wong

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Viewing Notes

An appropriately subversive love story for Valentines’ Day since I’m on my own this year. Even though the story and setting are far from Cronenberg’s traditional wheelhouse, thematically it fits right in since it deals with identity politics and otherness like many of his other films.

Shot on location in China with the interiors shot on sound stages in Canada as per usual. I don’t think Cronenberg had done much location shooting, especially out of the country, before this?

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