The Blue Butterfly (film)
Encyclopedia
The Blue Butterfly is a 2004 Canadian drama
/adventure
film, directed by Léa Pool
, produced by Porchlight Entertainment
and Alliance Atlantis
, distributed by Monterey Media and starring Marc Donato
as Pete Carlton, a boy terminally ill with cancer, whose final wish is to find the elusive Blue Morpho
butterfly. William Hurt
plays entomologist
Alan Osborne, who takes him to the jungle
s of Costa Rica
to find the insect.
The story is based on the life of David Marenger. It was filmed on location in Canada's Montreal, Quebec and Central America's Costa Rica.
boy with terminal cancer. He has a love for butterflies, and often watches entomologist
Alan Osborne's television show. His mother, Teresa, meets with Osborne, to try to get him to take her son to Costa Rica to find the rare Blue Morpho
butterfly. However, he dismisses her, but later comes to their home upon receiving a phone call from Pete saying he would go to Central America
himself. The two arrive at a small village when they learn the blue morphos have already migrated. Heartbroken, they prepare to leave, until they find one is still in the jungle. They chase after it several times, but are unable to catch it. Pete is determined to find the "magical" butterfly so his cancer can be cured, which leads to them falling into an underground cavern, injuring Osborne badly. Pete escapes to get help, but it only leads to him being lost, suffering from hallucination
s. Osborne is rescued, and as they are leaving to a hospital for Osborne, a friendly villager reveals she has caught the butterfly, giving it to Pete. As he is about to kill it for his collection, he lets it go so it can make more of the magical butterflies. An epilogue shows that at the next visit to the doctor, that Pete's cancer had miraculously disappeared.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
/adventure
Adventure
An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. The term is often used to refer to activities with some potential for physical danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing and or participating in extreme sports...
film, directed by Léa Pool
Léa Pool
Léa Pool is a Swiss-Canadian filmmaker who has also taught film at UQAM. She is openly lesbian. Her 1986 film Anne Trister was entered into the 36th Berlin International Film Festival. Her 1999 film Emporte-moi was entered into the 49th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Special...
, produced by Porchlight Entertainment
PorchLight Entertainment
PorchLight Entertainment, Inc. is an American production company founded in 1995 by Bruce D. Johnson and William T. Baumann. It dedicates in television production and animation...
and Alliance Atlantis
Alliance Atlantis
Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. was a Toronto-based media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operator in Canada. Alliance Atlantis also had offices in Halifax, Los Angeles, London, Dublin, Madrid, Barcelona, Shannon and Sydney.Alliance Atlantis was acquired by Canwest...
, distributed by Monterey Media and starring Marc Donato
Marc Donato
-Life and career:Donato portrayed the character Derek Haig on Degrassi: The Next Generation. Other roles include those in Doc, Locked in Silence, The Blue Butterfly, and other cartoon voices, recently as Ethan in The Future Is Wild...
as Pete Carlton, a boy terminally ill with cancer, whose final wish is to find the elusive Blue Morpho
Morpho menelaus
The Menelaus Blue Morpho is an iridescent tropical butterfly of Central and South America. It has a wing span of . The adult drinks juice from rotten fruit with its long proboscis, which is like a sucking tube. The adult males have brighter colours than the females.The larvae eat plants at night...
butterfly. William Hurt
William Hurt
William McGill Hurt is an American stage and film actor. He received his acting training at the Juilliard School, and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut as a troubled scientist in the science-fiction feature Altered States , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination...
plays entomologist
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
Alan Osborne, who takes him to the jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
s of Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
to find the insect.
The story is based on the life of David Marenger. It was filmed on location in Canada's Montreal, Quebec and Central America's Costa Rica.
Plot
Pete Carlton is a young MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
boy with terminal cancer. He has a love for butterflies, and often watches entomologist
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
Alan Osborne's television show. His mother, Teresa, meets with Osborne, to try to get him to take her son to Costa Rica to find the rare Blue Morpho
Morpho menelaus
The Menelaus Blue Morpho is an iridescent tropical butterfly of Central and South America. It has a wing span of . The adult drinks juice from rotten fruit with its long proboscis, which is like a sucking tube. The adult males have brighter colours than the females.The larvae eat plants at night...
butterfly. However, he dismisses her, but later comes to their home upon receiving a phone call from Pete saying he would go to Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
himself. The two arrive at a small village when they learn the blue morphos have already migrated. Heartbroken, they prepare to leave, until they find one is still in the jungle. They chase after it several times, but are unable to catch it. Pete is determined to find the "magical" butterfly so his cancer can be cured, which leads to them falling into an underground cavern, injuring Osborne badly. Pete escapes to get help, but it only leads to him being lost, suffering from hallucination
Hallucination
A hallucination, in the broadest sense of the word, is a perception in the absence of a stimulus. In a stricter sense, hallucinations are defined as perceptions in a conscious and awake state in the absence of external stimuli which have qualities of real perception, in that they are vivid,...
s. Osborne is rescued, and as they are leaving to a hospital for Osborne, a friendly villager reveals she has caught the butterfly, giving it to Pete. As he is about to kill it for his collection, he lets it go so it can make more of the magical butterflies. An epilogue shows that at the next visit to the doctor, that Pete's cancer had miraculously disappeared.
Cast
- William HurtWilliam HurtWilliam McGill Hurt is an American stage and film actor. He received his acting training at the Juilliard School, and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut as a troubled scientist in the science-fiction feature Altered States , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination...
as Alan Osborne - Pascale BussièresPascale BussièresPascale Bussières is a Canadian actress.- Life and work :She is a cinema studies alumna from Concordia University, living in Montreal.- Movies :- TV Series :*1989: Chambres en ville*1991: Marilyn...
as Teresa Carlton - Marc DonatoMarc Donato-Life and career:Donato portrayed the character Derek Haig on Degrassi: The Next Generation. Other roles include those in Doc, Locked in Silence, The Blue Butterfly, and other cartoon voices, recently as Ethan in The Future Is Wild...
as Pete Carlton - Raoul TrujilloRaoul TrujilloBorn Jose Raoul TrujilloAlso known as Raul Trujillo and Max Cheblon|parents= Luis and Lorraine TrujilloHis official website is raoultrujilloinfo.com, created by Charmaine deValois in London....
as Alejo - Marianella JimenezMarianella JimenezMarianella Sierra Jiménez is a Costa Rican actress who appears in The Blue Butterfly playing Alejo's daughter. She was nine years old in the film. She is part of the Bribri tribe.-References:...
as Alejo's daughter