Swallowtail (スワロウテイル Suwarōteiru), also known as Swallowtail Butterfly or Yentown, is a 1996 movie by Japanese film director Shunji Iwai, starring Hiroshi Mikami, Chara and Ayumi [...]

Swallowtail (スワロウテイル Suwarōteiru), also known as Swallowtail Butterfly or Yentown, is a 1996 movie by Japanese film director Shunji Iwai, starring Hiroshi Mikami, Chara and Ayumi Ito.

The film covers a wide array of themes and genres, from social-realism, to coming-of-age to crime. It has been both applauded and criticized by viewers.

"Once upon a time, when the yen was the most powerful force in the world, the city overflowed with immigrants, like a gold rush boom town. They came in search of yen, snatching up yen. And the immigrants called the city Yentown. But the Japanese hated that name. So they referred to those yen thieves as Yentowns. It's a bit puzzling, but "Yentown" meant both the city and the outcasts. If they worked hard, earned a pocketful of yen, and returned home, they were rich men. It sounds like a fairy tale, but it was a paradise of yen, "Yentown". And this is the story of Yentowns in Yentown."