Many good books have been written about the brutal regime of Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. Check Edwidge Danticat's "The Farming of Bones" and Mario Vargas Llosa's brutal "Feast of the Goat" (also turned into a horrible movie). "In the time of the Butterflies" is one of the most successful commercially which is perhaps the reason Salma Hayek saw it as a star vehicle that preceded Frida.
With a budget no higher than a telenovela, the movie focuses on Salma and tries to become a manipulative story of a strong Latina, but ends up becoming a "Like Water for Chocolate" wannabe with no real direction. And as history goes, I don't think a movie with a mostly Mexican cast, speaking English and playing Dominicans is taking history too seriously.
With a budget no higher than a telenovela, the movie focuses on Salma and tries to become a manipulative story of a strong Latina, but ends up becoming a "Like Water for Chocolate" wannabe with no real direction. And as history goes, I don't think a movie with a mostly Mexican cast, speaking English and playing Dominicans is taking history too seriously.