Madame Butterfly (Cho-Cho-San)
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User Rating
Current user rating: 82/100 (7 votes)
Profile
- TV Movie: Madame Butterfly (International English title)
- Romaji: Cho-Cho-San
- Japanese: θΆγ γγ
- Director:
- Writer: Shinichi Ichikawa (novel)
- Network: NHK
- Episodes: 2
- Release Date: November 19 & 26, 2011
- Runtime: Saturday, 21:00-22:13
- Language: Japanese
- Country: Japan
Plot
Set in the Meiji Period, Cho-Cho (Aoi Miyazaki) was born as the daughter of a samurai. After the deaths of her parents and step-mother, Cho-Cho eventually becomes a geisha. Cho-Cho hoping to one day help the world studies English. She soon meets an American naval officer named Franklin (Ethan Landry). They marry, but Franklin already has a wife in America. Ocho gives birth to a son, but her husband has left for America by this time.
Notes
- Filming begins August 22 and finishes in October.
Cast
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| Aoi Miyazaki | Atsushi Ito | Hideki Noda | Toshiyuki Nishida | Ethan Landry |
| Cho-Cho | Isaku Tanigawa | Isaku Tanigawa | Soshichi Obiya | Franklin |
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| Chizuru Ikewaki | Keiko Toda | Rie Tomosaka | Shiho Fujimura | Kaoru Okunuki |
| Yuri Tanigawa | Matsu | Kinu Miura | Miwa Ito | Yae Ito |
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| Ryo Iwamatsu | Yumiko Takahashi | Hirotaro Honda | Kimiko Yo | Patrick Harlan |
| Kisaburo Ohta | Otaka | Genkuro Obayashi | Okou | Army Doctor |
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| Masato Ibu | Jay Kabira |
| Police Chief Ijichi | Joe Franklin |
Additional Cast Members:
jjmarold Says:
Mar 03 2012 7:54 pm
I love Miyazaki and believe she was exactly the right person for this production (seen on NHK on March 3rd, 2012). It is based on Puccini's Madame Butterfly in which the anti-hero is Lt. Pinkerton (vice Franklin) and there was no Tanigawa in the opera. One must realize that there was a significant amount of racism at the turn of the twentieth century and Americans (not unlike the Japanese up to mid-century and most other countries) were significantly xenophobic. I recommend reading James Bradley's "Imperial Cruise" to get the flavor of those times. Also, unlike Puccini's opera, this production ignores that racism and xenophobia and (thankfully in my opinion) chooses to make Tanigawa and the Doctor as the cause of the tragedy. Well, Ambassador Sharpless and his wife do show some of the attitude of that era, but all in all, this is a classic tragedy, well written and well produced. -JJM
huh Says:
Jan 17 2012 8:53 pm
I would suggest reading some of the travelogues of Pierre Loti, which I'm told had some influence on the drama. Whether that is so or not, he would still certainly be more representative of this era, by which I mean, like other Westerners, he shows a complete lack of respect for the Japanese as actual human beings. That writer compares common Japanese people to monkeys and other animals and trots around with a huge sense of entitlement. Actress Miyazaki says about her character: "It was a marriage of love, and her husband (in the program, an American named Franklin) was entirely true to his feelings." But when you look at actual history, not everything is so pretty.
As if white males didn't have it easy in Hollywood already.... now we have some token pretty boy in this romantic nonsense straight from Japan....
So, in one word: whitewashing.
Hamako Says:
Sep 26 2011 4:25 am
Who play American roles in the movie?
The American naval officer and the American wife?
Very happy to see this movie!
Beth Says:
Aug 20 2011 3:18 pm
I had read the comic too! Very exited about this movie.
Madame_Moony Says:
Aug 19 2011 6:58 am
I had already read the comic. It was good one so that I can't wait to see this movie,,,
Good Luck ^^