Directed by Fritz Lang
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Kino Lorber)
Fritz Lang's adaptation of Madame Butterfly establishes themes he would revisit many times over his careeer: the exotic Japanese setting, a forbidden love affair, the tragic ending. It starts off well, with a Japanese girl on the verge of being forced into becoming a slave by a sinister Buddhist priest. She is "saved" by a foreign sailor when they fall in love, rather unconvincingly, at first sight, and get married. The sailor is nothing more than your typical scoundrel, soon heading home to Europe, leaving his wife, and soon to be born child, behind. Years pass, the girl remains faithful to her absent husband despite overtures from a wealthy prince. She runs out of money and is once more nearly abducted by the priest into his service. The sailor returns, but it is no surprise he wants nothing to do with her, leading to the tragic ending. The main problem with the film is the poorly developed central relationship between the sailor and the girl, and without any emotional investment we really don't care much what happens to either of them.
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