When the yen ruled the world: Shunji Iwai’s ‘Swallowtail Butterfly’ returns in 4K
The director talks about his approach to the 4K restoration of his classic film, now showing in theaters nationwide.
Shunji Iwai's "Swallowtail Butterfly" has long defied easy classification. A blend of fable, crime drama, and a concert film centered around an invented band, the film takes on added resonance as an elegy for a bygone era. Iwai's vision of a dystopian Japan, where the yen reigns supreme and Tokyo bears the moniker "Yentown," reflects the experiences of migrants drawn to the country in search of prosperity.
Beneath the film's invented pidgin language and gritty aesthetic lies a poignant exploration of statelessness, belonging, and the resilience of those on society's fringes.
As the theatrical debut of a newly restored 4K version approaches, supervised by Iwai himself, we sat down with the director to delve into the technical and emotional dimensions of revisiting this project. In this interview, Iwai reflects on the significance of revisiting a story about an imagined age of yen's dominance and how its relevance may have shifted in today's world.
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