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Swallowtail Butterfly (1996)
Director: Shunji Iwai
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Is this meant to be self-parody? If so, it backfires; if not, it's horribly shallow and pretentious. A vaguely futuristic 'fairy tale', at times reminiscent of Kurosawa's Dodes'ka-den, about a bunch of outsiders trying to make a go of it in 'Yentown' (i.e. Tokyo), the film opts for an alarming plethora of clichés, including the old warhorse of puttin' on a show (here a punk nightclub - cue naff musical numbers) against the wishes of gangsters and establishment alike.Author: GA
User reviews of this film
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- vicuna said...
- Posted on Feb 27 2008 09:49 Ha! Ha! Very funny. Shunji Iwai's Swallowtail Butterfly's a modern japanese film masterpiece with, among other things, a brilliant and unforgettable performance from great singer/composer Chara, wife of Asano Tadanobu. But Iwai has always been a director that divides, both the regular viewers as film critics. But if you got a soul of sensibility and like beautiful film visuals, i'm sure you will appreciate Iwais haunting fairytale
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