Alas de mariposa

Although we live under the premise that equality between men and women has consistently improved over the past three decades, the potent film "Alas de mariposa" ("Wings of the Butterfly") presents a startling contrast to this notion. Set in the Basque region of Spain, the director Juanma Bajo Ulloa portrays a modern family in the 1990's who is consumed with the obsession to have a son to carry on the family name. Ironically, it is the mother, Carmen, who is determined to continue the patriarchal dominance rather than the submissive father, Gabriel, as a result of living under the shadow of her father's resentment. While focusing on the repression of the feminine identity and the subsequent violence that is imposed upon the young daughter Ami, the spectator can draw parallels to the repression of the Basque independence and identity in the Northeast section of Spain.

While using revealing chiaroscuro lighting, "Alas de mariposa" contains various symbolic scenes that augment the patriarchal ideology through closed frames which denote the trapped family. The opening scene of the movie summarizes the rejection of the female throughout the film when the grandfather refuses to accept the birth of his granddaughter. Preceding scenes of the storm, ruination of the family painting that Ami draws, Carmen's rejection of Ami during her pregnancy and even the egg that breaks during the parallel montage of Ami's fall represents the broken possibility of life. The only moments in which Ami, the daughter, feels free and uninhibited is through the creation of her art, yet ironically the only time she can draw the butterfly wings is between the death of her grandfather and the birth of her little brother. The butterfly wings seem to symbolize her momentary freedom and liberty, while the skeletal frame represents her lack of freedom.

The vicious ideological circle in "Alas de mariposa" slowly rotates around the father's idealist attitude, the mother's forceful dominance, the daughter's rejection, the pregnancies and hurtful actions. The entire film encourages the viewer to evaluate the remaining patriarchal holds still remnant in society. "Alas de mariposa" is a compelling movie that questions the force of ideologies, portrays the victims and offenders of these philosophies, and the effect that they have on freedom and liberty. It is an eye-opening movie that challenges the audience with the re-examination of creeds that society imposes on the individual as well as the group.

Alas de Mariposa is about a 6-year-old girl, Ami that lives in a home full of nightmares. Her mother, Carmen, has an obsession to give birth to a male. She wants to carry on the patriarchal name of her husband, Gabriel. For that reason, Carmen does not treat Ami with the love and respect that she needs and deserves. She often ignores Ami and tells her to leave her alone. Ami's father, Gabriel, is a hardworking garbage man that tries to keep the family together. He often tries to comfort Ami, since her mother will not. Ami's butterfly drawings as a child, turn into dark, skeletal remains of a butterfly as she grows older. Gabriel finally get fed up with all of the arguing and tension in the home and asks Ami to leave the house. This movie is full of terror for Ami--involving murder,hatred,and rape. You will notice the rejection of a female in this film and how Ami is victimized by the society's ideologies. Juanma uses several strategies to create this "dark and tragic" environment.

Emotive drama about an unfortunate family with engaging interpretation , breathtaking cinematography and acceptable direction . This Spanish picture is an enjoyable story with an interesting characterizing about a few characters , tragic drama and thought-provoking events . That picture caught the attention of the Spanish media and spectators because of its shocking visual style and the crude scenario . It deals with an extremely sensitive little girl named Ami (Laura Vaquero) . She is a 6 year old girl who lives with her father named Gabriel (Fernando Valverde) , mother and grandfather (Txema Blasco) . Her mother, Carmen (Silvia Munt) , bears the obsession of giving a son to her husband . When finally Carmen gets pregnant, the relation between mother and daughter becomes a tragic one, driving the family to an inevitable tragedy .

This interesting but depressing film contains human drama , passion , emotion , tragical events , complemented with a colorful cinematography and sensitive musical score . These elements provide the setting for this piece of dramatic deeds , giving it its own special quality and ambient ; making a strong description of a drama inside a problematic family . After two years of writing along with his brother Eduardo , Ulloa , helped by filmmaker Fernando Trueba , produced and directed his first long movie "Alas De Mariposa" . This film along with ¨La Madre Muerta¨ forms a splendid diptych in which stands out its darkness , gloomy familiar environment and deep drama , both of them were shot in Vitoria ; however his third film ¨Airbag¨ disappointed some of his longtime buffs who preferred the obscurity of his first movies . ¨Butterfly wings¨ was released in the Festival of Cine of San Sebastian it won the first prize and subsequently won awards in many international festivals . Later came 3 Goyas of the Spanish academy such as best first movie , actress and original screenplay . Top-notch protagonist trio , Fernando Valverde-Silvia Munt-Susana Garcia , all of them give fine acting . The storyline relies heavily on the continued relationship among them but it doesn't make boring , however the film is slow moving . The little girl named Laura Vaquero is marvelous and charming with her sweet and enjoyable countenance . Good support cast formed by a plethora of notorious Spanish actors such as Txema Blasco as the grandfather and brief cameo by Karra Elejalde as a neighbour . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Aitor Mantxola , filmed on ___location in Vitoria , Pais Vasco , where the same director was born and lives . Emotive as well as thrilling musical score by Bingen Mendizabal .

Juanma Bajo Ulloa is a good but little prolific filmmaker . In 1989 he filmed his first movie in 35 mm , "The kingdom of Victor" that won the Goya of the Spanish academy to the best short movie . His first long film was the successful ¨Butterfly wings¨ that achieved numerous national and international prizes . In 1993, he realized his second picture , considered to be his best by many of his aficionados , "La Madre Muerta" that won prizes in several Festivals like Venice and Montreal . In 1996, his third movie , "Airbag" , an action road-movie , became the biggest Spanish box-office hit of all time , being a real international success . However this success , he has been unable to make any other movie in the last 8 years . He attempted to adapt the Spanish comic hero "Capitán Trueno" but the producers turned him down , and being finally realized by Antonio Hernandez . Others projects couldn't be financed due to creative differences with producers. In 2004 he filmed in secret, and with his own money, his fourth movie, "Fragil", that will be released in 2005 but was a commercial flop .

An excellent film by Basque director Juanma Bajo Ulloa. It is a film in which he presents the reality of the Basque Country as the `unwanted child' within a family. The daughter, Ami represents the Basque Country in the movie, the father represents France, and the mother represents Spain. The film also brings the audience to the discovery that the explosion of violence on the part of Ami is no more than an answer to the lack of love that she has from her parents. The father wants to be affectionate, but he just gives her the trinkets that he finds in the street, while the mother just rejects her because she has another son whom she prefers. The rejection of Ami's family also can be seen when Ami needs them and she called them requesting aid, but in first instance her mother does not put care to her call, and in another one, his father did not run enough to be able to help her.

I am with some other reviews who say in this movie there are two different part. The first, when she was a little kid, and the second, she as a teen. The first half, the star as a kid is awesome, nothing more, nothing less. Perfect length too. The aesthetic, blue tone, somber tale and perfect cast in this disturbing and sad story combine to produce one of the Spanish cinema peaks in the 90's. The other half, it's not bad as many people said, but with any trace of doubt the quality drops a lot. Annoying new characters, the loss of the atmosphere because the movie escapes to reality from that isolated world tale from the first half. Movie changed. Great technical work, good music and casting (specially the two girls who has disappeared from the scene inexplicably).