The South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival was riddled with films that ranged from the story of a sexually explicit country singer, a follow-along of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s campaign and win for governor to the tale of a man invited to a murder party; however, none of them carried as much controversy as “Butterfly: A Grimm Love Story.”
“Butterfly,” directed by Martin Weisz, is a fictionalized account of Armin Meiwes, a cannibal who made national headlines when he ate a willing participant.
In March of 2001, Meiwes placed an ad in a cannibal chat room searching for someone to eat and he met Bernd Jürgen Armando Brandes, who was searching to be consumed.
With the consent of Brandes, Meiwes severed his penis, seasoned it with salt, pepper and garlic, cooked it and served it to the pair. Meiwes later killed Brandes, and throughout the course of the next few weeks cooked and ate more than 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of Brandes.
Weisz’s disturbing film combines the story of the two men along with adding a fictional student, Katie (Keri Russell) who is doing thesis work in Germany on Oliver Hartwin (Thomas Kretschmann) and Simon Grombeck (Thomas Hubner), both fictional portrayls of Meiwes and Brandes, respectively.
Katie becomes obsessed with discovering every detail about the mens’ lives, and Weisz masterfully uses Katie’s character to bind together the two stories, in turn engrossing the audience.
“Butterfly” doesn’t stray far from Meiwes’ real life, which could be a clear indication as to why the film is banned in Meiwes’ native Germany, as it infringes on the personal rights of Meiwes. Like Meiwes, Hartwin is in prison as a result of the case. He was arrested in December 2002 after posting another ad. Both men made a tape of the event, which became evidence in Hartwin’s case.
T.S. Faull wrote a disturbing film which, at times, is uncomfortable – if not frightening – to watch, and Weisz held nothing back from the audience. The story is graphic, therefore the film is graphic, and Weisz makes no apologies for the matter.
It’s easy to argue that Russell’s character is pointless. Although the actress portrayed the obsessive student wonderfully, the story would have faired better without the subplot.
Gerrick Lewis can be reached at [email protected].
