The Butterfly (French: Le Papillon) in original

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, is a

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

by Philippe Muyl

starring A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor or actress who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies. The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and wh ...

Michel Serrault Michel Serrault (24 January 1928 – 29 July 2007) was a French stage and film actor who appeared from 1954 until 2007 in more than 130 films. Life and career His first professional job was in a touring production in Germany of Molière's ''Les ...

and Claire Bouanich.

Synopsis

Julien, (Serrault) an aging

widower A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...

, is a passionate butterfly collector. Elsa, (Claire Bouanich) an eight-year-old girl, lives with her mother, a very young woman named Isabelle, who have both just moved into Julien's apartment building. The mother is usually away, leaving her daughter alone for long periods of time, and Elsa starts visiting a reluctant Julien. One day, Julien decides to go to the

Vercors plateau The Vercors Massif is a range in France consisting of rugged plateaus and mountains straddling the ''départements'' of Isère and Drôme in the French Prealps. It lies west of the Dauphiné Alps, from which it is separated by the rivers Drac ...

in search of a rare butterfly called

Isabelle Isabel is a female name of Spanish origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of '' Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheva''), Arising in the 12th century, it became popul ...

which can live for only 72 hours. Elsa decides to join his adventure without telling him, and hides in his car. During the search Julien eventually reveals that butterfly collecting was a passion of his son, who died very young. His son had asked Julien to find the Isabelle butterfly, and so this is why the butterfly was so important to Julien. The story complicates when Elsa's mother cannot find her and hysterically reports her daughter as being missing, and possibly kidnapped. The police send out a search party and rescue helicopter looking for her. Elsa ends up falling into a hole while traveling with Julien. Julien calls the authorities who come to rescue Elsa. However Julien is suspected of kidnapping and is taken into custody for a short time. A young boy named Sebastian helps get Elsa out of the hole, and she is able to go home with her mother. When Julien and Elsa come back from their journey to find the Isabelle butterfly, they see that the chrysalis that Julien had received contained the Isabelle butterfly all along. Julien sends the butterfly on its way to visit his deceased son. It all ends very happily as Julien is released when they realize that he had never kidnapped Elsa. Isabelle, Elsa's mother, allows her to continue seeing Julien and studying butterflies with him. Both Julien, Elsa, and her mother benefit greatly from each other's presence.

External links

* 2002 films 2002 comedy-drama films French comedy-drama films 2000s French-language films 2000s French films {{2000s-comedy-drama-film-stub