Butterfly Kiss

Eunice wanders around a motorway landscape near Blackpool in north-western England. She is carrying a bundle of letters written by the woman she is searching for: her beloved Judith. Eunice walks into a petrol station she happens to be passing and kills the assistent because she isn't Judith, or because she doesn't have the music Eunice wanted, or for whatever reason. The assistant in the next petrol station is called Miriam. Using the same logic that left the first assistant dead, Miriam joins Eunice on her whimsical and destructive crusade. Eunice calls herself ''a living bomb''. Miriam sees her as a person that does all of those forbidden things that the rest of us only dream about doing, such as pulling the emergency cord or setting off a false fire alarm. Eunice has no barriers and there are no limits to what she is capable of. Male or female, friend or foe, love or hate, everyone, of both sexes, is a potential target for her sexuality and a potential victim for her murderous tendencies. Eunice is indiscriminate. She punishes everyone, including herself. Miriam is in many ways Eunice's opposite; naive and friendly, craving for affection and self destructive. She says: ''I don't know anything and I haven't been anywhere'' and attaches herself to - and falls in love with - Eunice because at least she pays some attention to her, even if it is not always positive. The film follows the two women's journey through the sterile and drab landscape among juggernauts and motels. The search for Judith becomes symbolic; an excuse to continue the journey with Miriam as the wide-eyed and submissive apprentice and Eunice as the raging and dangerous teacher. Butterfly Kiss is a painful film to watch; nothing is beautiful, everything is degrading and hopeless. The two leading ladies, Amanda Plummer and Saskia Reeves, provide credible portrayals of the two very different women. Eunice is both a sadistic child and a biblical punisher. Miriam is the feeble hanger-on, though a motherly tone can be sensed when she later tries to explain Eunice's actions. Miriam's love for Eunice is obviously futile, as is Eunice's search for Judith. Even the landscape is barren with its endless motorways. It is only when they arrive at the ocean that a kind of harmony and beauty can be perceived in their relationship. The final scene's beautiful pietà in the water is a magnificent ending to a powerful film. JS

Premiärstatus
Nordisk premiär: Medverkande
Amanda Plummer, Saskia Reeves, Paul Brown: Producent
Julie Baines: Manus
Frank Cottrell Boyce: Foto
Seamus McGarvey: Musik
John Harle: Talat språk
English