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Purple Butterfly

Original title: Zi hu die
  • 20032003
  • RR
  • 2h 7m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
1.3K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
68,331
23,561
Ziyi Zhang in Purple Butterfly (2003)
DramaHistoryWar
Cynthia is a young Chinese woman in love with Itami, a Japanese man about to be sent home for military service.Cynthia is a young Chinese woman in love with Itami, a Japanese man about to be sent home for military service.Cynthia is a young Chinese woman in love with Itami, a Japanese man about to be sent home for military service.
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
1.3K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
68,331
23,561
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Ye Lou
    • Writer
      • Ye Lou
    • Stars
      • Ziyi Zhang
      • Tôru Nakamura
      • Ye Liu
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Ye Lou
    • Writer
      • Ye Lou
    • Stars
      • Ziyi Zhang
      • Tôru Nakamura
      • Ye Liu
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 24User reviews
    • 27Critic reviews
    • 68Metascore
  • See production, box office & company info
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 9 nominations

    Photos6

    Purple Butterfly (2003)
    Purple Butterfly (2003)
    Ziyi Zhang in Purple Butterfly (2003)
    Ziyi Zhang in Purple Butterfly (2003)
    Ziyi Zhang in Purple Butterfly (2003)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Ziyi Zhang
    Ziyi Zhang
    • Cynthia
    • (as Zhang Ziyi)
    • …
    Tôru Nakamura
    Tôru Nakamura
    • Hidehiko Itami
    Ye Liu
    Ye Liu
    • Situ (Szeto)
    Yuanzheng Feng
    • Xie Ming
    Bingbing Li
    Bingbing Li
    • Tang Yiling
    Kin Ei
    • Yamamoto
    Leni Lan Crazybarby
    • A zi
    • (as Lan Yan)
    Seiichiro Hashimoto
      Felicia Pullam
      • Russian Prostitute
      • (as Fellicia Pullam)
      Cheryl Xie
      Cheryl Xie
        Anlian Yao
        Anlian Yao
        • Director
          • Ye Lou
        • Writer
          • Ye Lou
        • All cast & crew
        • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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        Storyline

        Edit

        Did you know

        Edit
        • Quotes

          Cynthia: Let's see who's quicker, who's luckier.

        • Soundtracks
          Could Not Get Your Love
          Written by Yao Min (composition), Yan Kuan & Su Wong (lyrics)

          Performed by Yao Li

          Courtesy of EMI Music Publishing Hong Kong

        User reviews24

        Review
        Top review
        A Chinese Take On The Old-Fashioned War Time Spy Romance
        "Purple Butterfly (Zi hudie)" is a Chinese take on "Charlotte Gray."

        There are also references to "The Third Man" in how the characters' loyalties and knowledge of each other's motives switch, to "Shanghai Express" for the trains, locales and extensive close-ups of beautiful faces, and to "Casablanca" as if these characters had more dialogue they would probably say something about their personal lives not amounting to a hill of beans amidst war breaking out in the late 1930's.

        Elaborate period production design and lush cinematography with very slow camera movement substitute for dialogue.

        I know very little of Sino-Japanese relations at this period so I probably missed important portents as the film first follows what I thought were two sets of star-crossed lovers in Manchuria and then Shanghai, whose lives only gradually obviously intersect.

        I consequently found some plot points confusing, particularly as I wasn't sure if the characters were spectacularly bad shots at point blank range or if we were seeing flashbacks to the point that I wondered if the projectionist had mixed up reels.

        I also wasn't sure if I was supposed to have a positive reaction to Tôru Nakamura's character, as the movie is so virulently anti-Japanese, but I found him a very charismatic actor who had terrific chemistry with the very expressive Ziyi Zhang despite the formalized set pieces of their interactions and even though I wasn't really sure about her personal feelings within her Mata Hari activities.

        It was completely gratuitous to close the movie with newsreel footage of Japanese atrocities in various Chinese cities during the war. Yes, we know this war was hell on civilians but hey I'm watching for the romances.
        helpful•9
        7
        • noralee
        • Dec 3, 2004

        Details

        Edit
        • Release date
          • September 17, 2004 (Greece)
        • Countries of origin
          • China
          • France
        • Languages
          • Mandarin
          • Japanese
          • Vietnamese
        • Also known as
          • 紫蝴蝶
        • Production companies
          • Dream Factory
          • Lou Yi Ltd.
          • Shanghai Film Studios
        • See more company credits at IMDbPro

        Box office

        Edit
        • Gross US & Canada
          • $17,790
        • Opening weekend US & Canada
          • $6,970
          • Nov 28, 2004
        • Gross worldwide
          • $17,790
        See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

        Technical specs

        Edit
        • Runtime
          2 hours 7 minutes
        • Color
          • Color
        • Sound mix
          • Dolby Digital

        Related news

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