The struggles of a group of outcasts living in "Yentown", in an alternate-future Japan.
Direction
Iwai's dreamy, fragmented storytelling that refuses easy answers.
Cinematography
Drenched in golden-hour grime and artificial Yentown light.
Score
Chara's ethereal vocals haunt every frame.
Director
Shunji Iwai
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film's title references the 1920s Japanese song 'Swallowtail Butterfly,' a nostalgic anthem of urban longing that Chara's character reclaims.
Iwai invented 'Yentown' as a multilingual pidgin — most actors learned their lines phonetically in languages they didn't speak, mirroring their characters' displacement.
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