Comments on Madama Butterfly

This little animation seemed to capture the spirit of the story of Madama Butterfly. I haven't actually seen the opera, but the brief synopsis that I read online details an American naval lieutenant who falls "in love" with a Chinese geisha. The two have an affair that results in a child, which is represented in the animation as a fish. Before the child is born, however, the American naval lieutenant returns to the states, leaving the geisha to raise the daughter on her own. Their bond is represented by an extended umbilical cord in the animation. The lieutenant returns with a new wife after a few years and takes the child from the mother. The geisha is destroyed by the loss of her child, and as the animation shows, she falls apart. Or takes herself apart, depending on how closely you want to examine it.

I think the animation was a little strange, but definitely very interesting. The fishbowl representation of the pregnancy was comical to me, and I'm not entirely sure why the animator did that. Perhaps she gave birth to a fish because fish can't breathe outside of water, and it shows that the baby became more vulnerable to danger once outside of the mother's protective womb? Also, I thought the umbilical cord connection the mother to the daughter was very symbolic, and I liked how they flew each other as kites. It speaks of their connection, and how mother teaches daughter and daughter gives mother new life.

The scene at the end, when the geisha is tearing herself apart, was very difficult for me to watch. I think the opera combined with the animation was very powerful and evoked a lot of different emotions. Overall, however, I enjoyed the experience.