The Butterfly Murders

1979 Hong Kong film by Tsui Hark

The Butterfly Murders

Film poster

Traditional Chinese| 蝶變
Simplified Chinese| 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

* 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

## External links

[edit]

* The Butterfly Murders at IMDb
* The Butterfly Murders at Rotten Tomatoes
* The Butterfly Murders at the Hong Kong Movie DataBase
* The Butterfly Murders on Hong Kong Cinemagic

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Tsui Hark

* The Butterfly Murders (1979)
* We're Going to Eat You (1980)
* Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind (1980)
* All the Wrong Clues (1981)
* Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983)
* Shanghai Blues (1984)
* Aces Go Places 3 (1984)
* Peking Opera Blues (1986)
* A Better Tomorrow III: Love & Death in Saigon (1989)
* The Master (1989)
* The Raid (1991)
* Once Upon a Time in China (1991)
* The Banquet (1991)
* Twin Dragons (1992)
* Once Upon a Time in China II (1992)
* Green Snake (1993)
* Once Upon a Time in China III (1993)
* The Lovers (1994)
* Once Upon a Time in China V (1994)
* The Blade (1995)
* The Chinese Feast (1995)
* Tristar (1996)
* Double Team (1997)
* Knock Off (1998)
* Time and Tide (2000)
* The Legend of Zu (2001)
* Black Mask 2: City of Masks (2002)
* Seven Swords (2005)
* Triangle (2007)
* Missing (2008)
* All About Women (2008)
* Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010)
* Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2011)
* Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon (2013)
* The Taking of Tiger Mountain (2014)
* Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back (2017)
* Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings (2018)
* Septet: The Story of Hong Kong (2020)
* The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021)
* The Battle at Lake Changjin II (2022)
* Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants (2025)

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