Swallowtail Butterfly
A bereaved girl finds precarious belonging among outsiders whose music, criminal schemes, and cultural collisions reshape a dreamlike alternative Tokyo.
Overview
A young girl finds herself in a world of chaos and survival after losing her mother.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- melancholic
- rebellious
- dreamy
- late night cinephile viewing
- japanese cinema exploration
Movie Details
- Director
- Shunji Iwai
- Release Date
- 1996-09-14
- Runtime
- 148 min
- Rating
- 7.5 / 10 (101)
Cast
- Ayumi Ito
- Yosuke Eguchi
- Chara
- Hiroshi Mikami
- Andy Hui Chi-On
- Atsuro Watabe
- Kaori Momoi
- Tomoko Yamaguchi
- Nene Otsuka
- Yoriko Doguchi
Common questions
- What is Swallowtail Butterfly about?
- A bereaved girl finds precarious belonging among outsiders whose music, criminal schemes, and cultural collisions reshape a dreamlike alternative Tokyo.
- What is Swallowtail Butterfly like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Swallowtail Butterfly as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Swallowtail Butterfly violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Swallowtail Butterfly as moderate.
- What did critics think of Swallowtail Butterfly?
- Critics broadly regard the film as an ambitious, visually inventive Japanese crime drama whose multicultural world-building and music-driven energy outweigh its sprawling excesses.
- Which films are like Swallowtail Butterfly?
- Films with a similar feel include City of Lost Souls, Fallen Angels, Run Lola Run, and The Foreign Eye.
- How long is Swallowtail Butterfly?
- Swallowtail Butterfly runs 148 minutes.
