The Blue Butterfly
- William Hurt: Alan Osborne
- Pascale Bussières: Teresa Carlton
- Marc Donato: Pete Carlton
- Raoul Trujillo: Alejo
- Marianella Jimenez: Yana ( Alejos daughter)
The Blue Butterfly ( Original title: The Blue Butterfly ) is an adventure drama from 2004 by director Léa Pool. The film stars William Hurt, Pascale Bussières and the then four -year-old Marc Donato.
Action
The ten- year-old Pete Carlton Montreal has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and the doctors only give him few months to live. As a result of the tumor, its sense of balance is disturbed, he has to sit in a wheelchair and after chemotherapy his hair he failed.
His worried mother Teresa wants him to fulfill the last wish of dream, which was to look to the entomologist Alan Osborne in the tropical rain forest after a Blue Morpho and to catch this. The Nymphalidae are said to have magical powers. Pete writes letters to Osborne and talks to him several times on his answering machine. At a public meeting of the Insectarium de Montréal harassed and Pete's mother Osborne, but makes it clear to them that he can not help them because the high season for butterflies is already over and he also has concerns to take a child in a wheelchair in the jungle. After Pete has tried on their own to compete at the airport with a fake ID to travel alone, Osborne finally agrees to that.
He shows the interested Pete nature and the creatures of the South American jungle. The mother is less enthusiastic about the insects. Osborne and the boy become friends. Pete has early lost his father and is looking for a replacement, and Osborne has remorse because he has left his daughter and her mother seventeen years ago. After talking with Pete, he decides to re-establish contact with his family when he is at home again. After futile hunt to discover Pete and the researcher the beautiful butterfly. But when they are about to catch him, they fall into a deep hole. Because Osborne has broken his leg, Pete makes alone back to the camp to get help on the way. As it gets dark, he hears eerie noises and believes himself surrounded by mystical shaman. The next morning his mother found him asleep in the forest. Thanks to its description, they can find the hole in the ground with Osborne relieve him of it and bring to the hospital. A young girl from the village succeeds in the meantime to catch this Blue Morpho. She gives him Pete, who is overjoyed. When he is later going to kill the butterfly to hang it on the wall, he decides to yourself and let the butterfly fly to freedom. And surprisingly, Pete's tumor is gone.
Background
- The film was inspired by the case of the 1981 Canadian-born David Marenger where a brain tumor was diagnosed at the age of six years. In 1988 he was met by the organization Children's Wish Foundation of Canada his desire to be able to catch a Blue Morpho Butterfly, after which he traveled with the entomologist Georges Brossard to South America. Upon his return, the symptoms have subsided and he lived contrary to the expectations of doctors on.
- The cost of production was estimated at 12.5 million Canadian dollars. The film was shot in Montreal and in Costa Rica.
Reviews
" A very emotional film that will show the diversity of creation and raise awareness of the miracle of life that presents his story with such a superficial drama that, despite all good intentions, neither children nor issue film can be taken seriously. "
" " The Blue Butterfly "tells soulful and rich in imagery, the story of the miraculous healing in the jungle. "
"Total with insights into the mysterious depths of the forest alternate with close-ups of bizarre insects and small animals. It is as if the filmmaker and for the fifth time with her working cinematographer Pierre Mignot wanted something close to bring the viewer, which is also the Indian girl Yana ( Mary Ella ) and the agitating about Pete got Osborne the boy repeatedly say, namely that the rain forest is not only the blue butterfly, but countless other miracles harbors. "
Awards
- The film was awarded by a jury of children with the Children's Film Award rascal.
- 2005, the film and Marc Donato was nominated for a Young Artist Award.
- 2005 Pierre Mignot the Prix Jutra was awarded for Best Cinematography.