Hu die (2004)

A married teacher/closeted lesbian meets a young, free spirited singer who will allow her to rediscover herself.

Director:

Yan Yan Mak

Writers:

Xue Chen (story), Yan Yan Mak

Stars:

Josie Ho, Eric Kot, Yuan Tian

2 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Josie Ho	...	Flavia / Ming's wife
Eric Kot	...	Ming / Flavia's husband)
Yuan Tian	...	Yip / Singer
Stephanie Che	...	Jin / Flavia's school sweetheart
Yat Ning Chan	...	Young Flavia (as Isabel Chan)
Joman Chiang	...	Young Jin
Kenneth Tsang	...	Flavia's dad
Pauline Yam	...	Rosa / Yip's roommate
Carl Ng	...	Carl / Man in Macau bar
Yuen-Leung Poon	...	Man in coffee shop
Redbean Lau	...	Flavia's mum
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brenda Chan	...	Samantha's mother
King-Suen Chan	...	Student demonstrator
Alice Lee	...	Pauline
Nicky Shih	...	Demonstrator & university student

Storyline

Flavia is a thirty-something married teacher. She has suppressed the memory of her adolescent lesbian fling with Jin and is stuck in a stifling marriage to Ming. A chance encounter in a supermarket with the playful and seductive singer Yip reawakens dormant feelings and she begins to think back on her teenage affair with Jin.

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Plot Keywords:

lesbian romance | female teacher | unhappy wife | lesbian sex | flashback | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese Mandarin Portuguese English

Release Date:

2 December 2004 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Butterfly

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min 125 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Flavia: I don't know why I always fell for girls. I can't even help my students. I always give up when I'm half way through doing something. If I go on like this, I'll hurt a lot of people.
Yip: Why do you blame yourself for everything? You've tried your best. That's good enough. No one will blame you.

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Connections

References Breathless (1960)

User Reviews

Observing Butterfly

It'll be a little difficult to express my every opinion on Butterfly.

First of all, the youthful love and passion between Jin & Flavia is portrayed more than well; although I thought (young) Flavia isn't much of a character compared to (young) Jin. Jin on the other hand is interesting and deeper, although she too is a commonly seen character in life or in movies: the smart and angry high school girl. But it's not a cliché, it's reality. She has deep ideas about life, about the question of life and that's a fact. Most people do that, especially at that age. I really could relate to the scenes involving those two, cos I was there too, kind of.. Being that young and in love was very similar in my situation. I think this is actually important in a movie, cos empathy is one thing some movies are designed to give you, but most (of those who claim they can) usually can't be so close to life. This is something I like about Asian movies, I'm not a big fan of the slow story lines but I appreciate their sense of reality.

About the story.. I believe it could've been told better. At times I felt like I was stuck in a movie that just won't go further. But this is independent cinema right? I can't and don't want to look for a Hollywood-type narrative. But I wish I could say it had a unique or at least not (mostly) boring way of narrative. But I can't, it's just too slow at times. I actually thought right before the end that it probably had been almost 3 hours since it started. The story wasn't new blood either, but it was good anyway. I don't need to discuss that.

The acting was generally good enough. Stephanie Che was brilliant. The woman who played Rosa was the only one I thought wasn't as good as the rest. But I'm not a critic, I'm a supporter. Just commenting.. I believe people can/should do whatever they like no matter how discouraged they are by others. I think it was the late reactions she gave in her lines, I don't know.

I gave the movie 5 out of 10, I could've given 6 though, considering it was in Chinese (subtitles are still obstacles against full comprehension) and for the sake of the scenes involving Jin & Flavia's love. Finally, it's nice and important to see homosexual visibility and issues in movies, that is really appreciated. This is pretty much what I think of Butterfly.

ps: I forgot to mention another thing about the movie: the kissing scenes between women. my god were they awful.. they were too conservative or just dull.

Salvo Daze