How M. Butterfly with Jeremy Irons subverted Western fantasies of Chinese femininity
David Cronenberg’s 1993 movie starring John Lone as a cross-dresser who woos Jeremy Irons’ diplomat was an interesting but failed experiment
This is the latest instalment in a feature series reflecting on instances of East meets West in world cinema, including China-US co-productions.
“It’s one of your favourite fantasies, isn’t it: the submissive Oriental woman and the cruel white man?” Chinese opera singer Song Liling (John Lone) says to French diplomat René Gallimard (Jeremy Irons) at the start of their metaphorically freighted affair.
It is a cliché both explored and exploded in director David Cronenberg’s 1993 drama M. Butterfly, which was adapted by David Henry Hwang from his Tony-winning play.
In 1960s Beijing, Gallimard meets and falls in love with Song – or at least the carefully curated image of Chinese femininity she projects. In fact, she is a man – and a spy – passing state secrets to the Communist Party as the Cultural Revolution intensifies around them and Gallimard’s life and career begin to unravel.
Based on a scandalous true story and echoing Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly, M. Butterfly was seen as something of a departure for Cronenberg, who was best known for cerebral body horror films such as The Fly and had never shot outside his native Canada before.