La femme papillon

The destiny of the puppets

Who manipulates?

Synopsis

A puppet spectator frees himself from his strings to join the butterfly woman.

La femme papillon

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La femme papillon © Les films du Nord

Commentary on the film

Are we puppets?
THE

Questions about the film

Understand the story and themes, express your feelings and develop critical thinking.

1Who are the characters in the film?
The characters are puppets (also called marionettes or guignols).

2How does a puppet work?
The puppet's limbs such as arms or legs are attached to strings that are pulled.

3What do we call the person who operates a puppet?
A puppeteer. The puppeteers must be hidden to create the illusion that the puppets are living and moving on their own.

4What are the puppets for?
The history of puppets dates back to ancient Greece; they are traditionally used to tell stories in the form of plays. Punchinelle, a character from the Commedia dell'arte (15th century), is also one of the most famous puppets (burattini theater).

5Where does the action take place?
In a theater.

6What is the heroine of the film's costume?
A butterfly.

7What is special about this theater?
The spectators are also puppets.

8What happens at minute 2 of the film?
A spectator puppet's strings break.

9Why?
Because the spectator was clapping too loudly.

10What does the puppet decide to do once freed from his strings?
He joins the butterfly woman backstage at the theater.

11What does he discover behind the scenes of the theater?
He discovers many other puppets but also scissors.

12What does he do with scissors?
He cuts the butterfly woman's threads, certainly to free her but, unlike him, she falls and seems unable to move on her own.

13What does he decide to do?
He decides to tie the strings again and become the puppeteer.

Download the film's educational activities as a PDF

Created with the support of the French Ministry of Education and the French National Center for Cinema and Animated Images (CNC).

Watching the film with the family, educational activities with parents at home and with teachers in class.

▸ Making a puppet (Visual arts) (ages 6 to 11)

Educational activities offered by Dgedie of the Juliettes school based on the film The Butterfly Woman.

← Films for 9+|All films

TitleLa femme papillon

ThemePuppet

Genre & keywordsNarrative, Narrative, Butterfly, Puppet, Spectator, Theater

Recommended age9 years old

Duration10 min

DirectorVirginie Bourdin

ProductionLes films du Nord

Year of production2003

Country of productionFrance

MusicGeert D'haene

Sound designArnaud Saulnier

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