Original title of the butterfly’s dream: Kelebegin Rüyasi
Genre; biography, romance, drama, history
Directors; Ismail Ciydem and Yilmaz Erdogan
Writer; Yilmaz Erdogan
Original Language; Turkish
IMDb ratting; 7.7/10
Duration: 2hr 18 min
Cast
kivanç Tatlitug as Muzaffer Tayyip Uslu
Mert Firat as Rustu Onur
Belçim Bilgin as Suzan Özsoy
Farah Zeynep Abdullah as Mediha Sessiz
Yilmaz Erdogan as Behcet Necatigil
Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan as Zikri Ozsoy
Taner Birsel as Ismail Uslu
Selman Ünlüsoy as Hasta
Ipek Bilgin as Muzaffer’s Mother
Devrim Yakut as Fikriye Onur
Salih Kalyon as Battal
The butterfly’s dream storyline
Two young struggling poets from Zonguldak suffer the havoc of WW-II and their deteriorating health due to Tuberculosis (TB). Behcet Necatigil- a senior poet is very kind towards them. He helps them to see the butterfly’s dream but alas odds are against both of them.
What happens in the butterfly’s dream; a thread
Yilmaz Erdogan is a famous writer, director, and poet of Turkish origin. He is the writer and director of this film which is one of the most expensive Turkish productions. Also, Erdogan played a supporting yet strong role of a real-life based character- Behcet Necatigil a famous Turkish poet. He paid a great homage to the unsung poets and the victims of the Great War.
The story revolves around five major characters. The beautiful picturization of the landscapes along the Black Sea and the cityscapes make a mesmerizing and breathtaking part of the film. It’s the gist of Erdogan’s movie that it showed the abysmal state of two young poets in such a manner that you cannot take your eyes off of the screen.
The camera introduces us to the pre-Hiroshima and Nagasaki episode of WW-II of 1941. It’s a colorless coal mine and you see what a coal mine looks like from the inside. Gradually you escalate and see a few workers in the guise of beasts of burden pulling a trolly full of coal. And here we see our first character, a coal mine worker, a young and passionate poet- Rustu Onur (played by Mert Firat). Suddenly the screen gets its colors back.
Rustu and Muzaffer’s dream
Rustu is the school friend of Muzaffer Tayyip (kivanç Tatlitug) and meets him after working hours. Both try to publish their poetic work but face defeat every time. Small poetry excerpts and stanzas throughout the movie enhance the beauty of picturization. On the same day, they both fall for a beauty queen from the elite class, Suzan, and label her as their inspiration. In the spur of passion, they make a bet on her. And decide to write a poem for Suzan and the one she picks is considered the winner and the good poet.
They try to meet Suzan at the community center where she practices for her dance classes. Soon they become good friends and spend quality time together and Suzan wishes to visit the coal mine. She comes from a rich and traditional family. Her father is a staunch opponent of her meeting these young poets. Whereas, they convince her to play the role of Hatice in their play and she agrees. Sadly, Suzan’s father comes to know about this and reprimands her to stay away from the TB patient (Rustu).
Rustu suffers from TB, and due to his ailing condition, he cannot write and complete his play. Behcet Bay (Mr. Behcet) manage to transfer Rustu to a Sanatorium in Istanbul for his medication and treatment. Before going he writes a poem for Suzan. However, things change when he meets Mediah in the hospital which is another TB patient. They both find love in each other.
Moving on, Muzaffer is alone without Rustu and terrified to meet Suzan because of her father. One day she sneaks out of the school and meets Muzaffer at the edge of the Black Sea where he explains to her about the butterfly’s dream. A dream that Rustu and Muzaffer have is that one day they will make out of this caterpillar stage of life and live a mature colorful life full of beauty like a butterfly.
Interval of the butterfly’s dream
All the tables turn for the wannabe butterfly (Muzaffer) when he takes Suzan to the coal mine and they get caught. Muzaffer gets a beating from the people of Suzan’s father and for the first time, he is also diagnosed with Tuberculosis. The love that starts enriching his heart bends the knees before his health. Furthermore, Mr. Behcet also tags Muzaffer along with Rustu in the sanatorium.
They both are again together writing poems on the hospital’s typewriter and recovering. Rustu introduces Muzaffer to Mediha. Muzaffer writes unanswered letters to Suzan. Subsequently, Rustu marries Mediha out of love but it proves fuel to the fire. They spend a miserable married life due to financial issues.
He meets Suzan and she says that she liked Rustu’s poem more. Muzaffer is kind of disheart. He is seeing the butterfly’s dream breaking in his eyes. Mediha’s health is weary and she dies of a bursting appendix. Rustu takes his beloved wife’s death to his heart. He is confined in a cubical with Muzaffer where he once lived with his wife.
This scene is picturized in a cubical which is filled with misery, unmet wishes, unseen dreams, and agony, where two figures are existing and mourn the death of a lady full of life. A woman who wanted to live. A small room is filled with red light and its walls are covered with poetry. Horrendously, Rustu, after the 17 days of his wife’s death leaves this world for eternal life.
However, the very last hazy scene of the graveyard is a broken image of the butterfly’s dream that was just seen and never met. In the meanwhile, Suzan pays a visit to Muzaffer for the last time. And Muzaffer helplessly sees her going away standing alone at the grave of his beloved friend- the poet Rustu.
