Madam Butterfly provides a unique take on an opera by using claymation characters. The music paired with the character's minimal expressions create an emotional, sad story of something that happened to many different women across the world in our history. The time is sped up, but the creators use interesting metaphors to get the point across and help the viewers understand a deeper meaning.
It takes place in Japan, beginning with a man and a woman waking up in bed together as they had slept together the night before. Once the man goes to leave it is clear after a couple of seconds that the man is not coming back. It represents a disturbing story of American men traveling to various ports while on duty, sleeping with as many women as possible and leaving them behind to fend for themselves.
Unfortunately, the woman ends up getting pregnant, with no one to support herself or a child since she is all alone, The actual birth is represented by a fish breaking out of a glass bowl, a metaphor explaining this child coming into an unfamiliar setting. The creator uses yet another metaphor by showing the umbilical cord as a kite string, representing attachment as well as childhood.
Eventually, the man returns only to take the child along with the many others he managed to father on his journey outside of the United States. The women is now all alone, without a man or child that she once had. This leads her to rip herself apart (literally) representing suicide, as she no longer felt any reason to live. She returns to the screen with small butterfly wings, glowing and happy once again as Madam Butterfly.
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