Mr. Butterfly: Film Facts

Film Facts:
Mr. Butterfly
All Content Used With Permission.

TIP: Log In to enable enhanced Interact features.

NEED HELP?

by Cinema Service

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR:
Majored in Photography at the AFI. Not only did Director of Photography, KIM Hyung-guk and PARK Hyun-chul did their studies at AFI, but Stephen Spielberg’s sidekick Director of Photography, Ianusz Kaminski also received his degree there. Their alum KIM Hyun-sung returned to Korea with his family behind in the States out of his love for film. After getting involved in "The Last Witness" and "Marrying the Mafia", he was able to get used to the Korean film production culture.

80’s setting combined with a somewhat heavy subject of Samchung Revival Camp, not to mention the love story were all executed successfully by Kim. He said he wanted to portray a desperate love of desperate people. Bringing his stylish video with a large-scale action and solid drama, "Mr. Butterfly" will show many the history of the 80’s and tragic love caught in the middle of it all.

by Cinema Service

Director KIM Hyun-sung who studied at AFI with in-depth understanding of angles and shots contemplated Hollywood’s textbook video to lead a strong drama. Director Kim said that he focused his efforts on properly controlling and gauging the emotion and natural flow of overall film. Therefore, parts where there could’ve been more action were purposely killed down to keep the drama alive. A combination of drama and unique video setting evident in Mr. Butterfly will be watched closely as it’s reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet and Life is Beautiful with its idiosyncracies.

by Cinema Service

Due to the 80’s military rule over the country that’s halted democratic progress in Korea, the 1980’s was a time of oppression, rather than freedom, and violence, rather than reason. The military rule that’s been maintained based on military line of command logic and violence sets up a Samchung Revival Camp in order to properly condition the people that are against the rule. At the time, the government justified the cause as a training camp for criminals and thugs, but after twenty years have past, it’s been concluded as a place of human rights violation.

Mr. Butterfly depicts the Samchung Revival Camp as a place of humanity instead of a place full of criminals. The audience might find the accidental drafting of different camp trainees humorous in today’s world through a film, but it’s a real-life history that people have lived, leaving room for irony throughout the film.

by Cinema Service

The cathedral is where it keeps Eun-ji (KIM Jung-Eun) and Min-jae (KIM Min-jon)’s innocent love. It also acts as a mother’s womb where their inevitable love is fed and grown. The Art Director who himself produced every little prop that’s used in the movie, said he was most attached to the cathedral.

Since the Samchung Revival Camp is a historical place, it needed a lot of historical research to reflect an accurate picture. The most difficult part during this process was that every broadcasted material on the camp in existence was to embellish the camp’s existence and purpose, which gave a certain limit. Therefore, they interviewed former trainees to perceive a more accurate picture. The Samchung Revival Camp was able to be reborn with a 70 to 30 mix of interviews and docu-broadcast materials respectively.

CLOSE THIS WINDOW

This window is a "pop-up" from at HKFlix.com.
If you've arrived here from somewhere else,
please CLICK HERE for our home page!