听 User Rating 
Spanish cinema is now so identified with Pedro Almod贸var and his camp followers, and the way they spit at the Franco years by (metaphorically) partying on screen, that it seems almost weird to find a film from that country which is classically shot, traditionally laid out. "Spirit of the Beehive" (1973) was certainly of that ilk and is still quite rightly identified as a bona fide European classic. (If you root around, you should be able to find the video.)
Though not exactly in the same league, "Butterfly's Tongue" has the same quality of stillness and - in its better scenes - of resonance as it slowly unfurls a story of growing up (but, naturally, not in the noisy manner of American screen kids), specifically the awakening of a young boy beginning school and experiencing life, all set against the impending doom of the Spanish Civil War. The crucial figure in his life is the genial, generous, freethinking teacher who, on the point of retirement, is unafraid to ruffle the feathers of the incoming Fascists.
In fact, the political backcloth (which is, initially, barely there) could have been usefully expanded to galvanise the many small moments which constitute the film. As it is, though these moments are often charming and usually heartfelt, they are often too studied and obvious, and a welcome distraction from them would have been deeper characterisation of the child, his father and the teacher. Yet Manuel Lozano, as the seven-year-old, is particularly powerful when he has to do more than just look anxious and cute (his cuteness loads the dice too much), and Fernando Fern谩n G贸mez is quietly magnetic as the teacher who embodies the kind of humanity that is about to end in Spain. The whole film, needless to say, is beautifully lit.
