Madama Butterfly

Madama Butterfly

- Pjotr Sapegin Adaptation -

I had the pleasure of watching Pjotr Sapegin's adaptation of Madama Butterfly, an opera by Giaccomo Puccini. This short adaptation was animated, and I find it to be an amazing work of art just for that, seeing as I've tried various types of animation and always found it to be extremely challenging.

On to the story, now. I cannot even say how much I loved the manner in which Sapegin decided to tell this wonderful tragedy - the simplicity of the layouts and the animation itself forces the watchers to quit looking at the superficial details and acknowledge and appreciate the underlaying messages. I felt much more interested in the actual storyline and what was happening. The emotions and body language was perfectly touched upon so that I could not only understand, but feel connected to and sympathetic towards Madama Butterfly. The hope she clings to, and her pure sense of love and devotion is more than captivating as she awaits the return of the Lieutenant. 

I'm sure I'm not the only one who absolutely loves the abstract symbolism in this animation. I'm always one to fall in love with stories that are able to bring in new ideas to resemble something so well-known. The stages of her pregnancy and mother-daughter bonding was fantastic, and I felt as though the fish in the fishbowl resembles the protection a mother offers her unborn child by bearing it safely within her own body. And the umbilical cord that wasn't cut? I love it, though I was confused at first, heh. As someone who feels an oddly deep connection to my own pets, namely the bird I've single-handedly cared for and raised for over six years, I can completely understand and relate to that feeling - the inability to be disconnected to the one you can't help but love.

And, with this in mind, I also empathized with Madama Butterfly at the cruel separation as the Lieutenant returned only to steal the daughter away. I ended up losing my bird only a few weeks ago as he flew away, unable to come home due to unfortunate circumstances, and so the connection I felt with Madama as she literally tore herself apart was frighteningly strong. The need to create something else, to start over new (which is conveniently what butterflies symbolize) could easily be seen as the only option for a grieving, deceived mother. Another thing I noticed was that both the Barbie wife and the Lieutenant squeaked when they moved, as though their "perfect bodies" and "perfect selves" were phony, and underneath there were problems (perhaps with their souls or hearts?).

Overall, this adaptation was incredible and amazingly artistic, I'll probably watch it a few times more than I already have just to see if I can catch on to anything else.