The premise of an old man/woman lumbered with a young child of invariably the opposite sex is a time-honored plot in both literature and movies. Damon Runyon's 'Little Miss Marker', for instance made it from short story to screen at least twice, three times if you count the Tony Curtis '40 Pounds Of Trouble' entry. So ideally we need to apply a little spin to the genre and that's what we have here, a Gallic souffle pitting Michel Serrault's solitary specialist against the neglected child from the one-parent family. Helmer Muyl artfully turns this into a quest movie; all his life Serrault has been searching for the rare 'Isabella' butterfly which only breeds for 30 seconds every other Fall. As luck would have it - or not, as the case may be - just as he sets out for an extended trip to nail the sucker once and for all he finds stowaway Elsa (with her often-absentee mother she has moved into Serrault's apartment building and already caused havoc by opening the hot-house door against his specific instructions, thereby releasing several species into the wild). There's nowhere really new to go with a story like this so that the best we can hope for is to be charmed along the way - and, in this case, get some spectacular scenery thrown in - and that we get, in spades. At his age Serrault should know better than to go up against Cute on wheels but incredibly he holds his own and the result is Feelgood squared. If there is a minor beef it is that not enough was made of Elsa's wandering away, falling down a well obliging Serrault to involve the police and face charges of kidnap if not worse. With barely any explanation he is freed and befriends Elsa's mother before settling down to teach Elsa how life goes in cycles via the hatching of the specimens they caught. Cynics may balk at the Bluebird of Happiness reference when Serrault learns that a specimen sent to him at the outset is, in fact, the elusive Isabella, i.e. the thing he was looking for was right there under his nose all the time if only he'd known it. These cavils apart the film is a joy as well as a welcome antidote to the Texas Chainsaws of this world. Highly recommended.
Review of The Butterfly
