La lengua de las mariposas (Butterfly)

Moncho

Moncho and Gregorio

La lengua de las mariposas (Butterfly) is a film set in Galicia, Spain in 1936. It follows a boy named Moncho who moves to a new town. He is befriended and mentored by his teacher Don Gregorio. Don Gregorio is a kind-hearted man who has genuine interest for his students. Spain is very politically charged at this time and is on the brink of civil war. It is a dispute between the Republicans (loyalists) and the Nationalists (rebels, fascists).

The historical context sets the stage for what happens in the movie. Spain has just established a new republic after the military dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera. Spain is very politically charged at this time and is on the brink of civil war. It is a dispute between the Republicans (loyalists) and the Nationalists (rebels). The new republic, among many things, gave women the right to vote, and also  began to lessen the power of the Catholic church in the government. Nationalists stage another military coup which takes control of the most of the country. The Spanish Civil War lasted until 1939, where the Nationalists eventually won. Spain began to be ruled under the new military dictatorship of Francisco Franco from 1939-1975.

Initially intriguing is the name of the film. Although "Butterfly" is the American title "la lengua de las mariposas" actually translates to "the tongue of the butterflies". In the movie, Don Gregorio explains to Moncho that a butterfly's long tongue is used much like a straw to suck nectar out of flowers. FYI this really exists. Here's a butterfly using its tongue on a guy's arm.

But it's the symbolism of the butterfly that is most intriguing. The lesson is that just as a butterfly has to reach deep into a flower to extract the sweet nectar, so too the Spanish people have to search deep to find the goodness amidst the turmoil.

Their family is representative of the country as a whole. The mother is devout Catholic and sympathizes with the rebels. The father is a Republican, who has become close to  Don Gregorio, a fellow Republican. The last part of the movie really sums up the feelings of all parties:

• Don Gregorio is captured by fascists, along with other Republicans. He is the face of innocence, being condemned for his beliefs. 
• Moncho's father shouts insults to the Republicans in his cowardice because he doesn't want to get turned in.
• Moncho's mother is the first to yell insults. She yells "Ateo!", which means atheist. She yells in part to protect her family from scrutiny and mostly because she really believes what she's saying.
• Moncho duplicates what everyone else is yelling, but as he throws his last rock, he yells a word that Don Gregorio had taught him, in apparent hopes that he would hear it and know that they were still friends.