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Black Butterflies

Play trailer Poster for Black Butterflies 2011 1h 40m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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69% Tomatometer 13 Reviews 62% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Having grown up during the height of apartheid in South Africa, poet Ingrid Jonker searches for love and a new home.
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Black Butterflies

Critics Reviews

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Tambay Obenson Shadow and Act What kept me most engaged were the mostly strong performances from the cast, and the beautiful cinematography. Aug 15, 2017 Full Review V.A. Musetto New York Post Van Houten ... gives a strong performance as Jonker, and the cinematography is pleasing, but the script is cliché-ridden and ends on an overly sentimental note. Rated: 2/4 Mar 2, 2012 Full Review Stephen Holden New York Times The movie reminds you of the extent to which poetry has been marginalized as a cultural force since the early 1960s. Rated: 4/5 Mar 1, 2012 Full Review Leslie Stonebraker New York Press Black Butterflies is the sad human poetry of the lost souls who slip beneath the waves to echo in our collective consciousness. May 4, 2011 Full Review Kent Turner Film-Forward.com The screenplay defiantly never softens [Ingrid] Jonker, but challenges the audience to take her or leave her. Rated: 2/4 May 1, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Marit Risto F So beautiful, and so painful Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/08/24 Full Review Audience Member good bio-pic of the woman called so. africa's sylvia plath Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Carice van Houten is a very good actress. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review walter m In 1960 South Africa, Jack Cope(Liam Cunningham) saves Ingrid Jonker(Carice van Houten) from drowning. They bond over the fact that they are both writers; his prose and her poetry. In short time, they fall in love as she moves into his house. But since somebody forgot to get their divorce finalized, marriage is off the table. Which might be for the best as Jack suspects Ingrid of being interested in anything in pants. "Black Butterflies" has all the elements of a good movie like history, literature, excellent cinematography, lots of period detail and Liam Cunningham who can simply do no wrong. What it does not have is any idea where to start, eventually getting to its point. In fact the movie should have spent more time in Ingrid's childhood, which is what formed who she would become, for better and worse, instead of reductively going for daddy issues.(Well, daddy(Rutger Hauer) was a government censor...) While Carice van Houten has a go for broke attitude, she does not have an equal level of talent that would allow her to breathe life into such a complicated person. In being a movie about an unconventionial and mentally unstable woman, the movie takes the most conventional approach possible by focusing on the relationship between Jack and Ingrid. In any case, these people's melodramatic issues cannot compare to those suffering under the heel of Apartheid at the same time. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member 5/5 --- i love poetry, and this movie is like a poem. it flowed, it ebbed, it made me cry. stunningly beautiful. brilliantly haunting. tragic soul, unfulfilled love. a film that visualizes what creativity in a person feels like, what it does to a person, what becomes of it and how it came to be such a force that will set you free and destroy you at the same time. a true story about a writer who makes a real difference with her words, from scattered scrawls on a wall to masterpieces utter by nelson mandela, words that set a country free. gorgeous cinematography, wow just stunning imagery that you won't soon forget. a lovely carice van houten as the lead ingrid jonker, with little intricacies on her face that hides what you cannot see inside, a dark past and a hurt and a hopelessness one cannot rid of no matter how hard you try. a dark tale of someone trying to get outside of herself, and how in life - you can be your own worst enemy. "the illusion that life once was beautiful every death confirms anew the lie of life please forget about love." "remember to look in my eyes for the sun that i now cover forever with black butterflies." Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Depressing, but true. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Black Butterflies

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Having grown up during the height of apartheid in South Africa, poet Ingrid Jonker searches for love and a new home.
Director
Paula van der Oest
Producer
Michael Auret, Richard Claus, Frans van Gestel, Arry Voorsmit
Screenwriter
Greg Latter
Production Co
NTR, Comet Film Produktion GmbH, Nederlands Filmfonds, Cool Beans, CoBo Fonds, IDTV Film B.V., Spier Films, Riba Film International
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 19, 2012
Runtime
1h 40m
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