David Cronenberg is often thought of as a cold and cerebral filmmaker, but on the contrary, he has repeatedly plunged into tragic subject matter as emotionally devastating as it is visceral and unflinching. Reteaming here with Dead Ringers star Jeremy Irons to take on David Henry Hwang’s acclaimed Broadway play, Cronenberg delves into the self-deceptions of a French diplomat who makes the mistake of falling in love with a Chinese opera singer, Song Lilang. As the title suggests, Hwang’s play is meant to interrogate the Orientalist stereotypes of Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly, and pulls a subtle switch on those racial and gender expectations. But this isn’t just a theoretical exercise, amazingly, it is based on a true story – something Irons’ daring performance won’t let us forget.

M Butterfly is presented in collaboration with Vancouver Opera, whose production of Madama Butterfly begins May 29. A guest speaker will introduce this screening and lead the discussion after the show.

Brian McIlroy holds a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia. His main research interests are in Canadian and Irish Cinema and Media. He is the author, editor or co-editor of six books, including A Vision of the Orient: The Texts, Intertexts and Contexts of Madame Butterfly with eds. Jonathan Wisenthal, Sherill Grace, Melinda Boyd and Vera Micznik (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006). He is the author of some 45 book chapters, journal articles and book reviews and in 2007-08, he was President of the Film Studies Association of Canada. He is co-founder of the Department’s Centre for Cinema Studies and is currently exploring the potential of researching early cinema-going and film exhibition in Vancouver.