Main Cast: Zhang Ziyi, Zhang Ziyi, Liu Ye, Feng Yuanzheng, Toru Nakamura
Release Year: 2003
Country: CN/FR
Run Time: 127 minutes
Plot
Directed by Lou Ye, Zi Hudie revolves around the underground faction of anti-Nipponese fighters in 1930s Shanghai, just prior to the onset of the Sino-Japanese war. It's only the beginning when Cynthia (Zhang Ziyi), a young Chinese woman, learns the news of her lover Itami's (Toru Nakamura) rapidly approaching return to the military. In a second and even more devastating blow, Cynthia's brother, a contributor to an anti-Japanese newspaper, is killed by a Japanese activist. Three years later, switchboard operator Tang Yiling (Li Bingbing) and Situ (Liu Ye), her fiancé, are introduced to Cynthia after inadvertently heading into a protest held by a resistance group code-named Purple Butterfly, of which Cynthia (who has since changed her name to Ding Hui) has become a part. Ultimately, a botched assassination attempt leaves Situ with a mysterious briefcase; now a suspect himself, Situ is arrested by none other than Itami, who, after reuniting with his old flame, has no idea of her role in a complicit plan to have his boss (Kin Ei) assassinated. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
Ding Hui, also called Cynthia, (Zhang Ziyi) and a Japanese student, Itami (Tôru Nakamura) have fallen in love in Japanese controlled Manchukuo prior to the war when Itami is forced to return to Japan.
Years later, in Shanghai, Szeto (Liu Ye) and Tang Yiling (Li Bingbing) 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). 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.
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 with a slightly better "Cream of the Crop" rating of 50%.[3]Metacritic records the film received a 68 score out of 100, meaning "generally favorable reviews."[4]
G. Allen Johnson of The San Francisco Chronicle describes the film as "a gorgeously shot, ambitious epic."[5] Kevin Thomas of The Los Angeles Times 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."[6]
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 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."[7]
