Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN VOICE
OCTOBER 14/1993
Into another body
Song Liling (John Lone), a Chinese man. becomes the “ideal” woman to a French diplomat (Jeremy Irons).
Film adaptation of Broadway’s
“M. Butterfly’ ’’falls short
You can’t tell the players even with a program in “M.
Butterfly.” Possibly the last, and certainly the least, of the
current wave of gender-bender movies, the film, currently in
release removes whatever was good about David Henry
Hwang’s play without finding anything adequate with which
to replace it.
Based on an actual incident involving a French diplomat
who didn’t realize for 20 years that his Chinese “mistress”
was a man, it was acceptable on a stylized stage set but not on
artificial movie set.
Jeremy Irons plays Rene Gallimard, who works at the
French Embassy in Beijing under ambassador Ian Richardson
(They must have picked up their accents at L’Oxford). The
one advantage to this absurdity is that if Irons’ Gallimard can
believe he’s French, he can also accept Song Liling (John
Lone), a Chinese man, as his “Butterfly,” the Japanese hero
ine of an Italian opera who represents the fantasy of the
submissive Oriental woman to Western men.
That Gallimard considers Song “the perfect woman” re
gardless of gender is part of his general political incorrectness.
But Song isn’t much better in this version, saying tilings such
as “Only a man knows how a woman is supposed to act.” And
after an initial attempt to raise Gallimard’s consciousness,
Song starts referring to himself as the white man’s “slave.”
“I want honesty, no falseness between us,” Gallimard
stresses early in their relationship. Before long, Song is play
ing the spying game, but it’s not clear whether this was his
goal from the outset.
You’ll have to read one of the books about the true story
for all of the technical details. The movie visually suggests
oral and anal sex between the men, and Song says he keeps his
clothes on because “modesty is so important to the Chinese.”
It’s been suggested that the real Gallimard may have been
aware of the deception and gone along with it rather than
admit he was gay. Irons gives no clue in his lifeless perfor
mance, any more than he picks up hints in Song’s lines such
as “I do not know how to change my body into the body of
another” and “As we embark on the most forbidden of loves,
I’m so afraid of my destiny.”
Hwang presumably followed the wishes of director David
Cronenberg in gutting his stage play of most of the political
dialogue that was so neatly interwoven with the personal
story. What’s left might have worked as camp, but Cronenberg
is deadly serious, pandering to a straight audience by putting a
naked woman on the screen but shooting Lone’s nude scenes
only from the rear or from the waist up.
“M. Butterfly” is about a male entertainer who dresses as
a woman, but it’s not “Tootsie.” His act is musical, but this
isn’t “La Cage aux Folles.” The impersonation fools a man in
the audience, but it’s not “Victor/Victoria.” They becomes
lovers, but it’s not ‘Torch Song Trilogy,” and they stay to
gether a long time, but it’s not “Longtime Companion.” Al
though the drag queen is an Asian spy, it’s not “Mata Hari,”
either.
On stage, “M. Butterfly” was quite possibly the best drama
since “Equus.” On screen, it’s an embarrassment and a bore.
The nature of the story gives it a certain curiosity value for a
gay audience, but lower your expectations to rock bottom and
you’ll still be disappointed.
STEVE WARREN
mm3 iifE araffl em
IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL A
CONDOMINIUM, CLUSTER OR TOWNHOME IN
ATLANTA... CALL THE EXPERTS!
2140 Peachtree Road. NW * Brookwood Square
Suite 325 * Atlanta, Georgia 30309
[404] 26-CONDO Fax: [404] 355 5341
Buy and Sell Vintage Clothing
1160 Euclid Ave. 688-4929
Mon.-Sat 11-7 Sun. 12-6
Dress your fantasy
with
Masquerade
Collection
Available Now
Winner 1992 Drama Critics Award for Best Play
TWO
Mgvst Wilson
Ktmty
OCT. 13-NOV. 14,1993
I AOtftNCf \
y rxAipf
I COW*N> !
ALLIANCE THEATRE • WOODRUFF ARTS CENTER • PEACHTREE AT 15TH.
FOR TICKETS CALL 892-2414 • GROUP RATES 898-1127
Tickets also available at the High Museum Gift shop at Perimeter Mall.
TAKASHI SlilDA