''Purple Butterfly'' () is a 2003 Chinese film,

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Lou Ye Lou Ye (), born 1965, is a Chinese screenwriter- director who is commonly grouped with the " Sixth Generation" directors of Chinese cinema. Films Born in Shanghai, Lou was educated at the Beijing Film Academy. In 1993, he made his first film ''W ...

. It is Lou's third film after '' Weekend Lover'' and '' Suzhou River''. It stars Chinese mainland actors,

Zhang Ziyi Zhang Ziyi (; ; born 9 February 1979) is a Chinese actress and model. She is regarded as one of the Four Dan Actresses of China. Her first major role was in '' The Road Home'' (1999). She later gained international recognition for her role in ...

, Liu Ye and

Li Bingbing Li Bingbing (; born 27 February 1973) is a Chinese actress and singer who rose to fame with her role in '' Seventeen Years'' (1999) and since then received critical acclaim for her roles in ''A World Without Thieves'' (2004), '' Waiting Alone'' (2 ...

, as well as Japanese actor Tōru Nakamura. The film premiered on May 23, 2003, at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, and was given a limited release in New York City the following year on November 26, 2004. The film was only released in one theater in the United States (in New York City) for three weeks where it grossed $17,790.

Plot

Cynthia (

) and a Japanese student, Itami (Tôru Nakamura), have fallen in love in Japanese controlled Manchukuo prior to the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

when Itami is forced to return to Japan. Years later, in Shanghai, Szeto ( Liu Ye) and Tang Yiling (

) have fallen in love. Cynthia has also returned to Shanghai now as a member of Purple Butterfly, a powerful resistance group against the Japanese occupation, led by Xie Ming (

Feng Yuanzheng Feng Yuanzheng (; born November 16, 1962 in Beijing) is a Chinese actor. Selected filmography *1995: ''Postman'' *1998: '' Records of Kangxi's Travel Incognito'' *2003: ''Purple Butterfly'' *2004: ''A World Without Thieves'' *2004: ''Shanghai ...

). After a case of mistaken identity and a shootout at a railroad station that leaves Yiling dead, Szeto finds himself an unexpected pawn in the battle between former lovers Cynthia and Itami who has also come to Shanghai, now as a member of the Japanese secret police unit tasked with dismantling Purple Butterfly.

Cast

as Cynthia * Tōru Nakamura as Hidehiko Itami * Liu Ye as Szeto *

as Xie Ming *

as Tang Yiling *

Lan Yan Lan Yan (, original Chinese name: 蓝燕; English: Leni Lan; born 9 March 1990), also known by her stage name, Crazybarby, is a Chinese actress, pop singer, and model, based in Hong Kong. Early life Lan was born in Shanghai before moving to ...

as A Zi * Kin Ei as Yamamoto

Reception

With the success of Lou's previous film, ''Suzhou River'' (2000), ''Purple Butterfly'' was an anticipated follow up with a considerably larger budget. The film received polarizing receptions. Rotten Tomatoes records a 45% "rotten" rating.

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

records the film received a 68 score out of 100, meaning "generally favorable reviews". G. Allen Johnson of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'' describes the film as "a gorgeously shot, ambitious epic". Kevin Thomas of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' called the film, "a remarkable period piece, evoking the bustling, dense and increasingly dangerous Shanghai of the '30s". Thomas praised Zhang as an actress with "formidable resources" and "has that crucial gift of holding herself in check at just the right moments for maximum dramatic impact and psychological complexity". Thomas further state the film is "suspenseful, atmospheric and sometimes puzzling". However, other critics saw the film as technically masterful but a case where style had trumped substance. In particular the film's labyrinthine and difficult to follow plot was pointed to as a major point of complaint. One such review by Sean Axmaker of the ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was f ...

'' called the film "lush but confusing", and states "''Purple Butterfly'' is rich with emotional turmoil and searing beauty, but it could have used a little more time in the editing room to make sense of it all."

References

External links

*
''Purple Butterfly''
at MonkeyPeaches

at HelloZiyi.us {{Lou Ye 2003 films Chinese war drama films Second Sino-Japanese War films Chinese neo-noir films 2000s Mandarin-language films 2000s Japanese-language films Films set in Shanghai Films directed by Lou Ye Films set in Manchukuo Japan in non-Japanese culture