19 March 2003
Director: José Luis Cuerda
Spain
1999
96min
Moncho is eight and it is the beginning of an idyllic year for him. He begins school with a wonderful teacher and makes a friend in Roque. His older brother is a saxophonist and takes him on a trip from their Galician town. It would have been a blissful year but Franco and his fascists have risen up against the Spanish Republic. As sides are drawn the civil war comes to Galicia and profoundly alters what should be the pleasure of coming of age. ‘Butterfly’s Tongue’ is a species of orchid, and symbolises ‘beauty’ in stark contrast to the politics of the time. In Spanish with English subtitles.