Swallowtail Butterfly (Japan Version) DVD Region 2

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Customer Review of "Swallowtail Butterfly (Japan Version)"

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Average Customer Rating for All Editions of this Product: Customer Review Rated Bad 7 - 7.8 out of 10 (4)

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Kevin Kennedy
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August 20, 2007

This customer review refers to Swallowtail Butterfly (Hong Kong Version)

Stay with Imai's other films Customer Review Rated Bad 4 - 4 out of 10

"Swallowtail Butterfly" is a mess. Overlong, with story elements which Director Imai neglects to tie into the plot and events which come out of the blue with no rhyme or reason to them. For example, why in the world does Ageha shoot up something she believes to be heroin? Nothing in the film would lead you to believe that she would do anything like that. And why have a movie which seeks to be a thriller detour into a 20-minute segment which really is nothing more than a Chara music video?

I have to assume that either the filmmakers never really figured out what they wanted their movie to be about or they made a hash out of it in editing. This director is capable of making truly memorable movies; check out "Love Letter", "April Story", and "Hana & Alice", all exceptionally good films. Unfortunately, "Swallowtail Butterfly" is confused and tedious, little more than a bad Takashi Miike imitation.

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Bunny
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November 9, 2003

This customer review refers to Swallowtail Butterfly (Limited Edition) (Japan Version - English Subtitles)

1 people found the following helpful

"i did it my way" Customer Review Rated Bad 10 - 10 out of 10

Jeez this was a great film to watch. I would recommend this to most anybody. It's a story about yentowns in yentown (you'll get it later). In the story, a nameless girl is taken under the wing of Glico, a hooker from Shanghai played by CHARA. You see how Glico and her posse live their lives as hated immigrants in Japan, who will do anything to make a buck, I mean yen. In fact, much of it is quite hilarious. Like a Japanese mafia guy gets punched out of a window, and when they call an ambulance a garbage truck slowly runs over him, totally killing him. It sounds awful now, but when you watch it, it's just really funny. Later when they go to dispose of the body, they discover an audio tape with Frank Sinatra's "My Way" on it. The story is very long, but I never lost my interest. The characters are very real, but also pretty amusing. In other parts it makes you shudder, like the Opium Street scene, where you witness a small community of homeless, starving drug addicts of all sizes and ages, shivering in an alley. Some parts will make you cry, but I won't tell you which ones. Through and through it is very entertaining, it has everything to offer. One warning however, this film is extremely graphic. There's a lot of ultra violence, sex, nudity, swearing, and just things that will make you feel sick (like the retrieval of the MY WAY tape). I feel that all of it was necessary, however. The story gives you *a lot* of ideas to ponder, and it will move you deeply. It affected me in a very strong way.

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Anonymous

October 16, 2003

This customer review refers to Swallowtail Butterfly (Limited Edition) (Japan Version - English Subtitles)

A good movie Customer Review Rated Bad 8 - 8 out of 10

Overall a good movie about foriegners trying to make it in a near future Japan chasing the almighty yen in Yentown. Some make it big through music, some through crime, while others struggle to survive and not be left behind. Although a little slow at times with some loose subplots including gangsters and a rare Sinatry recording, the film manages to tie everything together in the end.

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Anonymous

May 29, 2003

This customer review refers to Swallowtail Butterfly (Limited Edition) (Japan Version - English Subtitles)

One of the Classics Customer Review Rated Bad 9 - 9 out of 10

For anyone looking for an introduction to modern Japanese cinema, this is the movie. This movie really captures the experience of greed that is part and parcel with the life of many foreigners in Japan. Great music by the Yen Town Band (led by extraordinary Japanese singer Chara). You'll get a kick out of Japanese actors portrayal of foreigners and the constant mish-mash of Japanese, Chinese and English mixed together in this film.

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