Order the PURPLE BUTTERFLY DVD

PURPLE BUTTERFLY US Poster (Palm Pictures)

November 24, 2004

MonkeyPeaches's Best Of 2003 (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

January 31, 2004

I finally finished picking the best from 2003.

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(Thanks to Prof. Mike Lyon for his encouragement)

PURPLE BUTTERFLY Viewing Guide (Sina.com)

August 24, 2003

Xin Xia (Zhang Ziyi)	Itami (Nakamura Tooru)	Situ (Liu Ye)
Situ (Liu Ye)	Situ (Liu Ye)	Xie Ming (Feng Yuanzheng / left)

Photos: Paradise.sh.cn

***1/2

Zhang Ziyi plays a freedom fighter against the Japanese aggression in the early 1930's Shanghai, while emotionally attached to three men who are on a track of wiping each other out. This is an overly simplified version of the film if you want to hear it in one sentence. But it is not about a love rectangle. It is about a young girl torturously trapped in between love and duty, in between the memory of the past she tries to avoid and the the future she dare not to think about, and in between the guilt of what she did and pity about the innocent.

The story starts in 1928, in the Northeast China (Manchuria), a young Chinese girl Xin Xia (Zhang Ziyi) sees the departure of her Japanese boyfriend Itami (Nakamura Tooru) to Japan. She returns home and witnesses her brother, who runs a newspaper opposing the Japanese aggression, bloodily murdered by a Japanese extremist. The story is re-picked up three years later in Shanghai. The Northeast China has fallen into the hand of the Japanese and menace of war has shadowed the city of Shanghai. Yiling (Li Bingbing) arrives at the train station to meet her boyfriend Situ (Liu Ye) who is returning home. On the platform, a mysterious woman shows up. She is Xin Xia, now known as Ding Hui and is a member of Purple Butterfly, a secret organization violently against Japanese infiltration of the city. Ding Hui and her comrades come to pick up a killer they hired to assassinate Yamamoto (Kin Ei), head of Japanese spy agency in Shanghai. But Siut is mistaken as the man they are looking for. Gunfight erupts out between members of Purples Butterfly and Japanese spies who have been tipped off by a mole. Yiling is gun down by Ding Hui and Situ is captured by the Japanese. Meanwhile, Itami, the new deputy of Yamamoto has arrived in Shanghai. He set Situ free in attempt to track down Purple Butterfly. Xie Ming (Feng Yuanzheng), leader of Purple Butterfly, asks Ding Hui to get in touch with her ex-lover, even though he himself is deeply in love with her. Reunion with Ding Hui quickly makes Itami falls for her again but his will of destroying Purple Butterfly remains unchanged. Situ is confused after seeing Ding Hui with both Purple Butterfly and the Japanese, and does not know who is really responsible for the death of Yiling...

PURPLE BUTTERFLY is written and directed by young Lou Ye, an active figure among the Sixth Generation Directors of China. Just like his last film, the internationally acclaimed SUZHOU RIVER, PURPLE BUTTERFLY carries on his highly cinematic artistic style - long shots, jump cuts, jazzy camera work and an intricate storytelling. Tone of the film is very dark and heavy. Everything, the streets, houses, vehicles, and even the clothes look very old, rusty and grayish. The almost non-stop rain makes everything on the screen wet and everyone watching the screen feel cold. (I know it's summer right now.) There are very few dialogues and for audience who are trying to figure out what is going on, they are not really helpful. But there are many dead quite and long close-up shots, in which both the camera and the characters are motionless. This left their faces, getting so close to the camera and we can even count how many freckles on their noses, the only thing left to show what is inside his or her mind.

The story is not told with a single straight time line, but rather in a fashion of backwards within forwards. The viewers must be very careful on not missing any small detail, or will in end up with no clue at all. A second time, or even a third time viewing is necessary if anyone does not get it during the first time. But this is not the kind of films, which is magically capable of letting everything watching it over and over again. The very dark tone, the suspension-lacking storyline, and the long and motionless shots are clearly pushing many people away, even for the first time. This is the major failure of the film, I think. Shortening some of the long shots and smoothening the cut might make the film more appealing, but it is up to the director.

Zhang Ziyi is clearly the shining point of the film and she has proved once again, she is more than just a one-dimensional fight girls. This is the first time Zhang Ziyi taking up a leading role since her big screen début THE ROAD HOME (WO DE FU QIN MU QIN / MY FATHER AND MOTHER). What she plays here is so remotely different from from her previous works, that during the screening, I completely forgot every character she has played before. The rest of the cast is simply superb, which really carry the film through.

PURPLE BUTTERFLY is created by a director with distinctive artistic style. To fully understand it, you need patient, a pair of good eyes and some decent knowledge of the history. It is not intended for everyone's entertainment. Some of you may find the art style hard to stand - you don't have to. For the rest of you, just enjoy it if you can.

I attended a screening yesterday started at 7:30 pm at an old fashion (non-multiplex) theater. Two hours and four minutes later, director Lou Ye, Zhang Ziyi and Li Bingbing showed up on the stage. I forgot to bring my camera with me, something very regrettable. The host only allowed three of us to ask questions and they will be presented with flowered by the three guests. Unfortunately I was not picked, even though I was sitting on the front raw directly facing Zhang Ziyi. The first question was from a history teacher. She asked whether the film was about a resistance organization against the Japanese. Dumb question! The answer she got from Lou Ye is simply "Yes." The second question is from a guy claiming he had been learning acting. He wants to know the difference between this film and PULP FICTION. Lou Ye answered they were different and the structure of PURPLE BUTTERFLY is a sort of tree branch-like. The question question, actually is not a question, is from the photographer hired by the theater. He jumped right in front of me and started complaining - the film is hard to understand, the director should take some music lesson because the score was very bad, the rain made him muggy... The meeting came to the end with three of them tossing some "color balls" to the audiences. Something could be exchanged for T-shirts and other promotional stuffs. I didn't get one either. Well, here is my story.

Meng Ye

Beijing, China

The première followed by a news conference was held yesterday. Unfortunately, the Beijing premiere scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled.

More shots from the Shanghai première:

Click here, here and here.

Photos: Sina.com

May 30, 2003

PURPLE BUTTERFLY Got The First Review (FilmFestivals.com)

May 23, 2002

PURPLE BUTTERFLY Première Photos / Zhang Ziyi Does TV Commercial Promoting War On SARS (Various)

May 22, 2003

May 20, 2003

Detail Plot Description of PURPLE BUTTERFLY - VERY SPOILING, PLEASE DO NOT READ (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)

May 16, 2003

1928. Manchuria (China's the Northeast). A young Chinese girl Xin Xia (Zhang Ziyi) is deeply in-love with Itami (Nakamura Tooru), a Japanese translator. Their brief happiness ends when Itami is called home for his military service and they are forced to part. Returning sorrowfully from the train station where she has bid her lover farewell, Xin Xia witnesses the bloody murder of her brother, whose newspaper has been fiercely opposing Japanese aggression, by a  group of Japanese rightwing extremists.