Butterfly Kiss (1995)

Directed by: Michael Winterbottom | 88 minutes | drama, romance | Actors: Amanda Plummer, Saskia Reeves, Kathy Jamieson, Des Mcaleer, Lisa Riley, Freda Dowie, Paula Tilbrook, Fine Time Fontayne, ELizabeth McGrath, Joanne Cook, Shirley Vaughan, Paul Bown, Emily Aston, Ricky Tomlinson, Katy Murphy, Adele Lawson , Jeffrey Longmore, Suzy Yannis, Julie Walker, Kelly

Michael Winterbottom’s first film, ‘Butterfly Kiss’, is the type of film we’ve seen many times – a road movie about two murderous lovers traveling across the country – but it still caused some controversy at the 1995 Berlin Film Festival. The film has little to add to the well-known repertoire in terms of content, but the sometimes interesting characters and the acting of the two ladies make the film watchable at all times. The film can be compared to the 2003 ‘Monster’, for which Charlize Theron received an Oscar. In that film there was also talk of a mentally not completely sane, lesbian woman who develops a bond and love affair with an impressionable, sweet girl. When she turns out to be a serial killer, the relationship takes on a new dimension, but the girl stays with the woman. Also in ‘Butterfly Kiss’. The humble Miriam is taken in by the bold, brash, and let’s face it, psychopathic, Eunice and soon decides to spend her life with Eunice, partly out of a need for adventure, and partly to try to help Eunice to to become a good person.

In black and white video recordings, presumably from a police station, we see Miriam talking about her experiences with Eunice, which we see in the film. She says she always saw the good in Eunice, even though she did all those terrible things. That if you love someone, you have to take the bad with it. It is touching how she sees the good in people and how she tries to help and understand Eunice, and in the moments when Eunice also seems to be impressed by this and behaves like a real feeling, dreaming person, you touch as a viewer filled with pride and hope in the essential goodness of man. But ninety percent of the time, in Eunice’s case, we are dealing with an incomprehensible, completely amoral person, with whom we as a viewer can do little. Fortunately, Amanda Plummer – known as “Honey Bunny” from ‘Pulp Fiction’ – is such an interesting appearance in the film. With piercings and chains hung on her nipples, and around her entire torso, and a fanatical look and convincing Irish accent, she demands full attention. Once she’s arranged a lift and sits next to a trucker who then notices that he hears something rattle or ring and she proudly opens her blouse and reveals her naked, papered body, the viewer only has to wait for the inevitable. violent – ​​after the sexual – outcome. Both frightening and fascinating to observe.

The point is, at some point the plot starts to get a bit boring. Again someone is murdered by Eunice, and again Miriam appears not to be (completely) upset. Also, Eunice’s character in itself is not very interesting once you get used to her behavior. Little is known about her motives, while some hints are made about Eunice’s search for love (she keeps coming into a gas station, asking for Judith) and the need for recognition of her existence. The latter at least brings another interesting dimension to the table. Eunice has the feeling that she is not noticed by God, because she can do anything without being punished. The ending also gives the whole some added value to the genre, through changes in and realizations by Eunice and Miriam. For a long time, however, the film remains relatively monotonous, however intriguing the subject itself is, and however much the two actresses know how to captivate. All in all, a nice film within the genre, but ultimately with too little depth in the characters and too few surprises at story level to really make an impression.