M. Butterfly

---

The expense reports from Intelligence.

I don't believe it.

Did they give you any trouble?

No, not at all.

Oh.

"Documentation attached."

Well, I couldn't be happier.

So how are you settling in?

Well, fine. Fine.

The apartment's a bit earnest

and Sovietic, but it's very comfortable.

Yes, well, we all have

the same furniture, you know. Mm-hm.

It comes from one small factory

in Clermont-Ferrand.

Oh, my God.

Things certainly are different here.

You find it different

from your days with Renault, do you?

Well, yes, I do.

You know,

never mind the license to kill...

...those boys certainly have a license

to spend money.

Well, at least it breaks the routine.

- I started in transportation this morning.

- Good.

I'm up to 57 windshield wiper blades

in the past six months.

Fifty-seven?

What are they driving through,

sulfuric acid?

I expect it's all the locals,

spitting on the windscreens.

My God, is it the Swedish

or the Swiss Embassy holding this soire?

I think it's the Swiss.

No, no, no, you're...

No, you're right,

it's definitely the Swedish.

Well, then, we're over here.

What are they planning

to inflict on us tonight?

Not those Chinese acrobats again,

I hope.

There's a limit

to the times I can watch...

...a man trying to get his leg

around the back of his neck.

Oh, Frau Baden says

there's going to be an opera performance.

Hello.

Is there some diva

passing through town?

No, it's a local singer.

We're going to hear excerpts

from Madama Butterfly.

I'm embarrassed to admit

I'd never seen Madame Butterfly.

Really?

Don't tell anyone though.

I've got one or two people around here

thinking I'm profoundly cultured.

She will fall in love

with an American sailor.

A big mistake.

Why is that?

He will marry her, but he's not serious.

Her American sailor has now left her.

He's not coming back.

Mademoiselle Song is very striking, yes?

But she simply has no voice.

There she is. Excuse me.

Wonderful performance.

Thank you very much.

I really enjoyed it.

She's so wonderful, isn't she?

Oh, she's a nice lady.

Mademoiselle Song.

- It was a beautiful performance.

- Thank you.

I've always seen opera singers

as overweight ladies...

...in too much bad makeup.

Bad makeup is now unique to the West.

I've never seen a performance

as convincing as yours.

Convincing?

Me, as a Japanese woman?

Did you know the Japanese

used thousands of our people...

...for medical experiments

during the war?

But I gather such an irony is lost on you.

No, no, what I...

What I meant was,

you made me see the beauty of the story.

Of her death.

It's...

It's pure sacrifice.

I mean, he's not worthy of it,

but what can she do?

She loves him so much.

It's very beautiful.

Well, yes, to a Westerner.

I beg your pardon?

It's one of your favorite fantasies,

isn't it?

The submissive Oriental woman

and the cruel white man.

Oh, I... I don't think so.

Consider it this way.

What would you say

if a blond cheerleader...

...fell in love

with a short Japanese businessman?

He marries her

and then goes home for three years...

...during which time

she prays to his picture...

...and turns down marriage

from a young Kennedy?

Then when she learns her husband

has remarried, she kills herself.

Now, I believe you would consider this girl

to be a deranged idiot, correct?

But because it's an Oriental

who kills herself for a Westerner...

...you find her beautiful.

Yes.

Well, I see your point.

The point is, it's the music, not the story,

Monsieur...?

Gallimard. Ren Gallimard.

If you wish to see some great theater...

...come to the Beijing Opera sometime.

And further your education.

You know, the Chinese

are an incredibly arrogant people.

They warned us in Paris about it,

remember?

Hmm. There's a switch.

Parisians calling the Chinese arrogant.

There's no use fussing about it.

Whenever I see one of them

blowing his nose onto the pavement...

...I always remember

what my father said.

"East is East and West is West,

and never the twain shall meet."

And then I feel much better.

Oh.

So tell me...

...did you get a chance to meet

Lars Hammer's new wife?

Oh, no.

You know, she's the one

really running that embassy these days.

Sorry.

I hear she's quite homely.

I left early.

Oh, dear,

are you coming down with this cold too?

No, I'm fine.

It's just...

Well, it...

It's silly, but...

I met the Chinese equivalent of a diva.

She's a singer with the Peking Opera.

Oh, where they sing like cats wailing?

She sang the death scene

from Madame Butterfly.

Actually,

it's a funny thing about Chinese.

It sounds more like singing

when they're just speaking normally.

Do you know

that the Chinese hate Madame Butterfly?

She hated it,

but she performed it anyway?

They hate it

because the white man gets the girl.

Sour grapes, if you ask me.

Why can't they just see it

as a piece of beautiful music?

Mm.

Thank you.

Um... Uh...

Theater?

It's... It's...

Um, opera.

- Oh.

- Um...

Oh, thank you.

Monsieur Gallimard, come in.

You knew I was in the audience.

It was easy to spot you.

So you are an adventurous imperialist.

Well, I thought it was time

to continue our education.

Congratulations.

It only took you three weeks.

I've been busy.

Well, education has always been

undervalued in the West, hasn't it?

I wouldn't say that.

No, of course you wouldn't.

After all, how can you objectively judge

your own values?

I think it's possible

to achieve a little distance.

Do you?

Be a gentleman, will you,

and light my cigarette?

The Oriental woman

has always held a certain fascination...

...for you Caucasian men.

Is that not true?

Yes.

But that fascination is imperialist.

Or so you tell me.

Yes.

It is always imperialist.

But sometimes...

Sometimes it is also mutual.

This is my home.

Come another time...

...and we will continue

the process of education.

Oh...

What's...?

What are you doing?

Oh, I had the most amazing dream.

I'm surprised

you had the time to dream at all.

When did you get in last night, anyway?

Oh, I went to the, uh, Koenig's.

You know what's it like

when they get in a new shipment of beer.

I shan't go back there in a hurry.

Um...

Song Liling?

That is my father.

It was very good

that he did not live to see the revolution.

They would, no doubt,

have made him kneel on broken glass.

Not that he didn't deserve

such a punishment.

But he was my father.

I would have hated to see it happen.

There is an element of danger

to your presence.

You must know that.

It doesn't concern me.

It doesn't concern me either.

Well, perhaps.

I am slightly afraid of scandal.

What are we doing that's scandalous?

I'm entertaining you in my parlor.

Where I come from

that would hardly be construed as...

You come from France.

France is a country

living in the modern era.

Perhaps even ahead of it.

China is a nation...

...whose soul is firmly rooted

What I do,

even pouring the tea for you now...

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