Butterfly's Tongue (1999)

Original title

La lengua de las mariposas

Directed by

José Luis Cuerda

Genre

drama film

Country

Spain

Runtime

1h 35m

Rated

R

Rating

7.3 of 10 from 246 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A young boy named Moncho starts school in a small Galician town in 1936. He grows close to his elderly teacher, who opens his eyes to nature and poetry. Their peaceful life is disrupted by the rising political tensions that lead to the Spanish Civil War.

coming-of-agetenderbittersweetslow-pacednostalgicpoignantgentlemelancholic

What happens

Butterfly's Tongue or Butterfly (Spanish: La lengua de las mariposas [la ˈleŋɡwa ðe las maɾiˈposas]; may be more literally translated as "The Tongue of the Butterflies"), is a 1999 Spanish film directed by José Luis Cuerda. The film centers on Moncho (Manuel Lozano) and his coming-of-age experience in Galicia in 1936. Moncho develops a close relationship with his teacher Don Gregorio (Fernando Fernán Gómez), who introduces the boy to different things in the world. While the story centres on Moncho's ordinary coming-of-age experiences, tensions related to the looming Spanish Civil War occasionally interrupt Moncho's personal growth and daily life. The film is adapted from three short stories from the 1996 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 received critical acclaim. It was nominated for the 2000 Goya Award for Best Picture and won the Goya Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Butterfly's Tongue has a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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