Butterfly

Bluesky

In southern island cultures people will tell you that we are all united by water – that it flows around us and through us, that all of life depends on it and its rhythms can be found in everything. Anyone who lives near a river or the sea can feel something of this, and it’s a concept that is alive in Florence Miailhe’s Oscar-nominated short film, whose hand-drawn animation swirls and eddies as if the narrative itself were liquid. It tells the true story of a swimmer – French champion Artem ‘Alfred’ Nakache – from his early days as a child afraid of water, through the course of a turbulent life to what might be his final moments, swimming butterfly in the sea (perhaps Cerbère, where he died doing what he loved).

The word butterfly here refers to both the stroke and to a little yellow-winged insect which our hero saves from drowning as a child. Its bright colour emerging from the blue is later echoed by a swirl of pink as he first sets eyes on the woman whom he will marry. At just 15 minutes, the film naturally lacks the space to address all his significant experiences and achievements, but focuses on those with the most obvious personal impact: romance and family, his Olympic successes, and his experience of the Holocaust as an Iraqi/Algerian Jewish man in his adopted country of France. As one might expect, it’s bittersweet, but there are significant moments of triumph and a sweetly optimistic ending.

Where most water-focused film are all about blue, Miailhe finds room for rich reds and other warm tones which help to keep the film from becoming grim. Rather, it’s a story in which love still seems to wield a powerful influence even when its objects are gone – and in which, perhaps, a man who is struggling might allow himself to be carried by the current. Its impressionistic style, full of movement, helps it to take in vast amounts of time without losing either its natural flow or its emotional potency. As the old man moves up and down in the water, just a blur of colour when beneath the surface, he sems to be diving in and out of his memories. Meanwhile the shifting colours of the rolling waves are exquisitely captured, dazzling to see.

Butterfly is proof that there’s no need to use advanced technology to create a visually arresting film. Its success is down to the effort and imagination invested in its creation, and is well earned.

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