Nadia, Butterfly

Nadia, Butterfly is a Canadian drama film, directed by Pascal Plante and released in 2020.[1]

Nadia, Butterfly
Film poster
Directed byPascal Plante
Produced byDominique Dussault
Written byPascal Plante
StarringKaterine Savard
Ariane Mainville
Hilary Caldwell
Pierre-Yves Cardinal
CinematographyStéphanie Weber-Biron
Edited byAmélie Labrèche
Production
company
Nemesis Films
Distributed byMaison 4:3
Release date
  • September 18, 2020 (2020-09-18)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageFrench
English

The film stars Katerine Savard as Nadia, an Olympic swimmer struggling to redefine her life after retiring from the sport. Its cast also includes Canadian competitive swimmers Ariane Mainville and Hilary Caldwell in supporting roles as Nadia's friends and teammates, as well as Pierre-Yves Cardinal.

Production and distribution

Plante wrote the film in part based on his own experiences as a competitive swimmer who tried out, but did not qualify, to represent Canada at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He has described the film as "basically a film about the post-Olympic blues, the very tipping point of that transition from being an athlete to having to redefine herself and understanding what it means to leave it all behind."[1] Savard, an Olympic swimmer, auditioned for the role after being one of the swimmers Plante consulted for input into the screenplay.[2] The film was shot in Montreal and Tokyo in 2019, with swimming scenes filmed at Montreal's real Olympic Pool from the 1976 Summer Olympics.[3]

The film was named as an Official Selection of the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, but was not screened due to the cancellation of the physical festival in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] It will have its commercial premiere in September 2020.[4]

Critical response

For The Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney wrote that "Most movies about the physical rigors and psychological toll that force high-performance athletes to give up their chosen discipline — whether it's swimming, track and field, ballet or any other — tend to focus on the pain and injuries, the punishing schedule, the exhaustion, the disappointments of a career in decline. What makes Plante's drama distinctive is that the decision to quit has already been made both privately and publicly, and the detachment is already in process as Nadia (Katerine Savard) gives an awkward press interview while she's still catching her breath after an individual race toward the close of the Tokyo Summer Olympics. "I guess I'm trying to end on a good note," she says, visibly anxious to step away."[5]

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References
  1. Gregory Strong, "Canada's Plante humbled by Cannes selection for film 'Nadia, Butterfly'". CityNews, June 4, 2020.
  2. Gregory Strong, "Canadian swimmer Savard makes acting debut in Cannes-selected film". Toronto Star, June 6, 2020.
  3. Olivier Paradis-Lemieux, "Nadia, butterfly : quand le sport olympique fait son cinéma". Ici Radio-Canada Sports, August 26, 2019.
  4. Stéphanie Morin, "Nadia, Butterfly sur grand écran au Québec". La Presse, July 29, 2020.
  5. David Rooney, "'Nadia, Butterfly': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter, July 29, 2020.
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