If you generally don't like murder films you'll hate this movie, never mind the fact that it's actually very good. Very little heed (if any) is paid to the numerous victims, their bodies falling to the side of the storyline as the obsessed female lovers move on, taking the plot with them. Butterfly Kiss introduces two startlingly distinctive, unique women, opposites drawn together by loneliness and a need for balance. Eunice is a dispairing, tortured soul who searches the bland, grey motorways of England for the ever-absent Judith (does this abstract individual really exist or is she another figment of Eunice's amazingly complex and unstable psyche?). People who turn out not to be Judith tend to end up the victim of Eu's homocidal wrath (note though that Judiths importance to Eu was going to end up in mortal sacrifice also). Eunice has no inhibitions, no scruples; her behaviour is repulsive, obnoxious, sexually promiscuous, extravagantly moody. She acts purely on impulse and instinct, rarely using her devastated mind, for Eunice actually wants to be caught, and wants to be punished. In fact, she consistantly pushes her luck in aggravating people, beleiving God (and I guess the rest of the world) has forgotten her. Consequently she is forced to punish herself, wrapping her scrawny body in chains that hurt and bruise her. It is quite possible that a lot of her other actions throughout the film, which are illogical and cruel up front, are more attempts by Eu at self-punishment though that is left for the audience to mull over. Miriam, by contrast, is water to Eu's fire, a metaphor even she explains in her black and white interveiws dotted throughout the film, as she tells their story to a camera. Miriam at first looks to be dim, naive, childish and ineloquent in her speech. Reading between the lines this version of Mi fails to convince, instead giving the image of perceptive, open-minded in the extreme, generous and angelicly kind. Whether this was supposed to be Mi or was Saskia Reeves' true intelligence mistakenly worming its way to the surface is unknown, and it doesnt really matter -the character was nontheless, adorable. As lonely and love-starved as Eunice, their similarities end there. Mi is totally honest and forthcoming; her love for Eunice is complete and unconditional. Along with being painfully direct, Eunice is also implicitly dishonest. When Miriam discovers Eu's homocidal nature she is already in love. She disposes of the body without encouragment from Eu and sets out to support Eu and make her a better person. Rather she becomes a murderer herself, though through more subtle indications she retains all the original beauty and kindness of her placid personality. People who may dislike this movie are being subjectively incorrect in saying that it isn't good. Truly it is not a pleasant film to watch but it is still a worthwhile peice of artistry riddled with talent.
Review of Butterfly Kiss
