Fridae

Sex drew me to Butterfly, and I was not disappointed.

The lengthy Hong Kong lesbian drama has hot women, sensual love scenes and episodes of tender and erotic sex, without any explicit nudity.

The movie will also seduce lesbians hoping to see positive images of gay women.

The two main characters, married mother Flavia (Josie Ho) and her love interest, drifter and singer Yip (the unbelievably sexy newcomer Tian Yuan) are attractive, talented and sensitive women.

"You are different. You are soft and gentle," says Yip to Flavia on their first meeting.

It is refreshing to move away from stereotypical femme-butch pairings - both Flavia and Yip are 'all woman.' The film also shows its maturity by not questioning their sexual orientation, suggesting it is wrong or abnormal or using it as a tool to titillate a male audience.

The film, based on the story Mark of a Butterfly by Taiwan's Chen Xue, centres on 30-something Flavia who is torn between her desire for the flirtatious Yip and responsibility towards her husband and child.

There is nothing overtly wrong with her marriage. Flavia appears to have it all. A kind, sensitive and caring husband (Eric Kot) - we watch him do his share of bringing up baby - a comfortable modern apartment and well-behaved Ting Ting, their infant girl.

When Flavia starts lying so she can sneak off to be with her lover, her husband unwittingly tells her to go shopping and treat herself.

Ironically, in this film about women, it is Kot, the sweet, slightly camp husband, who steals the show. The strength of his performance meant while I was, of course, rooting for Flavia to jump into bed with the desirable Yip, my heart was stubbornly stuck with the husband. Director Yan Yan Mak (after her critically acclaimed Gege, 2001) succeeds beautifully in creating a love triangle, where each one involved has the audience's sympathy.

One of the best scenes in the film has Kot desperately trying to win his wife back on their anniversary - his pain on screen is palpable. I defy anyone to keep a dry eye at this point. In contrast, Flavia spends most of the movie in a tense, withdrawn state. Unlike the playful Yip, her joy is not unlocked until the last half hour of the movie.

Tian was nominated for best newcomer in Taiwan's Golden Horse awards for her role as Yip and illuminates the film with her kittenish allure. Her character is kind and patient - at no point do we see her as a home wrecker even when she tells Flavia: "As I decorate this place, I picture how you will look in it." One of the movie's enigmas is why Yip is attracted to the joyless Flavia at all.

Butterfly's main weakness lies in its flashbacks. Flavia's desire for Yip sparks memories of her only other lesbian affair - a schoolgirl relationship with boyish rebel Jin (Stephanie Che). Isabel Chan plays the younger Flavia. Both actresses handle their roles well. While their first fumbling kiss is tender, as their relationship progresses to the twining of their teenage limbs, I started to feel uncomfortable with images of underage sex.

The retro scenes are set against the backdrop of the June 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. But rather than injecting some atmosphere and historical context to the story, it just serves to confuse and distract from the main action. The flashbacks, sometimes filmed with grainy home video, are also too punctuated and irregular to explain fully what damaged the schoolgirl romance.

Other side plots, including Flavia's struggle with her depressed mother and a ridiculous pair of runaway lesbian schoolgirls that the adult Flavia, as their teacher, tries to help, also blow the film off course with their tepid soap opera treatment. Flavia is filmed obsessively washing her hands throughout the movie, Lady Macbeth-style, a puzzle which is never explained.

As a final dig, the movie lacks a good soundtrack - for much of its two hours, it is without music creating a raw, theatre-like effect. The few songs featured were penned and sung by (the gorgeous) Tian and are fairly moody dirges. At the very least, Mak could have used more music with the eighties flashbacks to help evoke the feel of that decade.

Butterfly flaps inexpertly between lesbian love affairs, but lands with grace in the end. And, before I forget, Tian, if you read this, I have the mistletoe waiting!