Thursday, July 13, 2017

The Butterfly's Tongue

Many berets, or boinas, on both sides of the political spectrum, in the film Butterfly’s Tongue.
Butterfly's Tongue or Butterfly (La lengua de las mariposas, literally it can also be translated as "The Language of the Butterflies"), is a 1999 Spanish film directed by José Luis Cuerda. The film centres on Moncho and his coming-of-age experience in Galicia in 1936.
For Moncho, it's an idyllic year: he starts school, he has a wonderful teacher, he makes a friend in Roque, he begins to figure out some of the mysteries of Eros, and, with his older brother, a budding saxophone player, he makes a trip with the band from their town in Galicia.
But it's also the year that the Spanish Republic comes under fire from Fascist rebels. Moncho's father is a Republican as is the aging teacher, Don Gregorio. As sides are drawn and power falls clearly to one side, the forces of fear, violence, and betrayal alter profoundly what should be the pleasure of coming of age.
The film is adapted from three short stories from the book Que me queres, amor? by Galician author Manuel Rivas. The short stories are "A lingua das bolboretas", "Un saxo na néboa", and "Carmiña".
The film was nominated for the 2000 Goya Award for Best Picture, and it won the Goya Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. 

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