“Butterflies” is a pleasant little fantasy where a five year old makes a wish upon a shooting star and the wish comes true. Suddenly, charming urchin Sara discovers she can fly. Mom is the harried caretaker who listens to her little girl with a modicum of attention. Initially disbelieving, mom soon discovers Sara’s gift and she’s rushing off to the local medical facility to understand if it’s normal for children to levitate. The local lead doctor, in a Disney’s 101 Dalmations/Cruella sort of caricature, gets excited about a possible Nobel Prize, and the laughable staff go through their inept shtick. Sara, meanwhile enjoys her new reality transcending everyone’s else’s. It seems Sara flies when she reaches for a dream, turns toward a goal, something that gives her butterflies in the tummy. Sara shows some natural child-like compassion when she reaches out to a terminally sick child in the same facility. Unable to discover and exploit the location of Sara’s “butterflies”, or their trigger mechanism, the medical staff give up on their dream of fame and fortune. Little Sara floats home with mom in tow. It may not be a major cinematic event, still, “Butterflies” left a smile on my face. With subtitles.
Director: Kjell-Ake Andersson
Next play is March 8 at Cinema 12