The Butterfly Murders

Film poster

蝶變

蝶变

Literal meaning

The Butterfly Transformation

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Dié Biàn
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	Dip⁶ Bin³

Directed by

Tsui Hark

Written by

Lam Chi-ming
Lam Fan

Produced by

Ng See-yuen

Starring

Lau Siu-ming
Michelle Yim

Cinematography

Fan Gam-yuk

Production
company

Seasonal Film Corporation

Release date

20 July 1979 (1979-07-20)

Running time

88 minutes

Country

Hong Kong

Language

Cantonese

The Butterfly Murders is a 1979 Hong Kong wuxia film directed by Tsui Hark. The film was Tsui's directorial debut.^[1] It has elements of history and a murder mystery. The film is considered to be a notable work of the Hong Kong New Wave film movement.^[2]

Plot

The film was narrated from the point of view of the protagonist, Fang Hongye, on a series of murders at the Shen's Family Fort. Fang begins as an outsider invited to investigate, but soon becomes intricately involved in the case. The story unfolds through his dual perspective as both participant and observer.

The story began by introducing the "Hongye's Notebook", a hand-written notebook that documents peculiar events of the martial arts world, known as Jianghu. Eight pages of the notebook (which later revealed in the story as forgeries) describes a mysterious 'killer butterfly' incident at the Shen's Family Fort. The deaths, including that of the previous fort owner implicated in a tomb robbery, are linked to these butterflies. Decades later, another tomb raider dies in a similar manner, prompting the current fort owner, Shen Qing, to invite Hongye, Tian Feng of the "Seventy-two Smokes" gang, and Qing Yingzi for an investigation. Their arrival triggers more butterfly-related murders, and the situation escalates when Shen Qing himself falls victim to the killer butterflies, causing widespread alarm and urgency to resolve the murders. Shen Qing's wife, however, insists on waiting for the arrival of three brothers, known as the 'Four Phases of Heavenly Thunder,' before taking any action.

A mute servant girl Ah-Zhi leads Hongye to a secret gunpowder storage room, raising suspicions. The arrival of the three brothers coincides with Mrs. Shen's mysterious death by an iron-clad figure, later revealed to be Shen Qing himself, who is also Yu Zhen, the deceased fourth brother of the 'Four Phases.'

It was revealed that six years earlier, Yu Zhen established the Shen's Family Fort to secretly develop an alloy for gun barrels of powerful weapons. After completing the weapon, Yu Zhen orchestrated the butterfly murders (and forged the eight pages of "Hongye's Notebook" mentioned in the beginning of the story) to eliminate rivals and claim dominance in the martial arts world, manipulating Tian Feng to assist him unwittingly.

After Hongye solves the case, he leaves the fort, where Yu Zhen and Tian Feng, along with others, perish in a final battle, destroying the fort and the weapon.

Cast

Lau Siu-ming as Scholar Fong
Michelle Yim as Green Shadow
Jojo Chan as Madam Shum
Chang Kuo-chu as Master Shum (he wears black knight armor that conceals his identity.)
Wong Shu-tong [zh] as Tien Lung clan leader
Ha Kwong-li as No. 10, Red Flag squad leader
Tsui Siu-ling as Chee
Eddy Ko as Kwok Lik
Tino Wong as Li Kim
Danny Chow as No. 3, White Flag squad leader
Lau Jun-fai as Mr Tsui

Release

The film is not widely available on tape or DVD in the West (there is a German and a French DVD release), though there was a Hong Kong release.^[3]

References

^ "蝶變 - 香港電影資料館". www.filmarchive.gov.hk. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
^ "The Butterfly Murders - Hong Kong Film Archive". www.filmarchive.gov.hk. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
^ Hong Kong Digital. The Butterfly Murders (1979; Seasonal Film Corporation).

External links

v t e Films by Tsui Hark
Films directed	The Butterfly Murders (1979) We're Going to Eat You (1980, also writer) Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind (1980, also writer) All the Wrong Clues for the Right Solution (1981) Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983) Shanghai Blues (1984, also produced) Aces Go Places 3 (1984) Working Class (1985, also produced) Peking Opera Blues (1986, also produced) A Better Tomorrow III: Love & Death in Saigon (1989, also produced) Once Upon a Time in China (1991, also writer and produced) King of Chess (1991, uncredited, also produced) Once Upon a Time in China II (1992, also writer and produced) The Master (1992, also produced) Green Snake (1993, also writer and produced) Once Upon a Time in China III (1993, also writer and produced) The Lovers (1994, also writer and produced) Once Upon a Time in China V (1994, also writer and produced) The Blade (1995, also writer and produced) The Chinese Feast (1995, also writer and produced) Love in the Time of Twilight (1995, also writer and produced) Tristar (1996, also writer and produced) Double Team (1997) Knock Off (1998) Time and Tide (2000, also writer and produced) The Legend of Zu (2001, also writer and produced) Black Mask 2: City of Masks (2002, also produced) Seven Swords (2005, also writer and produced) Missing (2008, also writer and produced) All About Women (2008, also writer and produced) Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010, also produced) Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2011, also writer and produced) Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon (2013, also writer and produced) The Taking of Tiger Mountain (2014, also writer) Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back (2017, also writer and produced) Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings (2018, also produced)
Films written	A Better Tomorrow II (1987; also produced) A Chinese Ghost Story III (1991, also produced) Swordsman II (1992, also produced) New Dragon Gate Inn (1992, also produced) The Wicked City (1992; also produced) The East Is Red (1993; also produced) Once Upon a Time in China IV (1993; also produced) The Magic Crane (1993, also produced) Iron Monkey (1993; also produced) Black Mask (1996; also produced) The Era of Vampires (2002, also produced) Sword Master (2016; also produced) The Thousand Faces of Dunjia (2017)
Films produced only	A Better Tomorrow (1986) A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) The Big Heat (1988) I Love Maria (1988) The Killer (1989) A Terra-Cotta Warrior (1990) The Swordsman (1990) A Chinese Ghost Story II (1990) Shanghai Grand (1996) Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997) The Climbers (2019)
Collaborating director	The Banquet (1991) Twin Dragons (1992) Triangle (2007) Septet: The Story of Hong Kong (2020) The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021) The Battle at Lake Changjin II (2022)

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