Purple Butterfly (China)
Y
Jan 1, 2005
In Competition
CANNES -- "Purple Butterfly" is a tale of intrigue and divided loyalties set in China on the eve of the Japanese invasion in the 1930s.
But writer-director Lou Ye, whose atmospheric and experimental "Suzhou River" won deserved acclaim at international festivals, has chosen a murky and disjointed means to narrate this story. Rain and darkness often obscure the action. Even more problematic is an editing style that interpolates past actions with present, making it difficult to follow story developments.
Starring the beautiful and talented Zhang Ziyi and possessing strong production values, the somewhat self-conscious film is certain to make the festival rounds and win distribution in many territories. One can only hope the director takes another pass at his film in the editing room.
The story begins in Manchuria in 1928, where a young Japanese student, Itami (Toru Nakamura), is called back to Japan for military service. This tears him away from Cynthia (Zhang), the Chinese woman he clandestinely loves. Returning from the train station, Cynthia is witness to the murder of her brother, a political agitator, and several others by Japanese extremists.
Flash forward to Shanghai in 1931. Neither of these characters is immediately in view. Instead, the movie takes up the story of two other lovers forced to part -- switchboard operator Yiling (Li Bingbing) and her fiance, Szeto (Lui Ye), who say tender and romantic goodbyes while demonstrators protesting Japanese incursions into China march in the street below. Soon, though, Yiling is heartened by news her lover will return on the train that afternoon.
In an implausible sequence at the train station, a Chinese resistance group named Purple Butterfly and Japanese spies both mistake Szeto for an assassin hired to hit the head of the Japanese secret service. In a bloody shootout, Szeto is wounded, Yiling is killed, and we realize that Cynthia -- now known as Ding Hui -- belongs to Purple Butterfly.
Into this messy situation steps Itami, returned from Tokyo to take over as No. 2 man in the Japanese secret service. Szeto is captured, beaten, then freed by the Japanese when Itami realizes he is not the assassin. But he must promise to spy for Japan. Meanwhile, Purple Butterfly head Xie Ming (Feng Yuangzheng) learns of Ding Hui's former relationship with Itami and decides to use it to his advantage by making certain the two former lovers meet once more. Only later is it revealed these two were once lovers as well.
In this confusing way, we finally arrive at the heart of the story, but without ever establishing the passion that once existed between the two lovers. In the nearly silent opening sequences, the two had looked more like a couple about to divorce rather than one saddened by their forced separation. And once back together, the spy/counterspy elements take over, never allowing the two to re-establish an emotional connection.
The subplot involving Szeto fits awkwardly with the rest of the film as it fails to amplify the story of two lovers who may or may not betray each other.
The actors are all fine, though Lou favors claustrophobic close-ups that often cramp their style. Plus, his cinematographer, Yang Yu, uses lenses with such shallow depth of field that much action plays a kind of blurry impressionism. Music ranges from great Chinese swing tunes of the era to Jorg Lemberg's symphonic score.
PURPLE BUTTERFLY
A Shanghai Films Studio/ Dream Factory production
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Lou Ye
Producers: Zhu Wongde, Wang Wei
Director of photography: Yang Yu
Production designer: Liu Weixin
Music: Jorg Lemberg
Editors: Chen Xiaohong, Lou Ye
Cast: Ding Hui: Zhang Ziyi
Szeto: Lui Ye
Xie Ming: Feng Yuangzheng
Itami: Toru Nakamura
Yiling: Li Bingbing
Running time -- 127 minutes
No MPAA rating
CANNES -- "Purple Butterfly" is a tale of intrigue and divided loyalties set in China on the eve of the Japanese invasion in the 1930s.
But writer-director Lou Ye, whose atmospheric and experimental "Suzhou River" won deserved acclaim at international festivals, has chosen a murky and disjointed means to narrate this story. Rain and darkness often obscure the action. Even more problematic is an editing style that interpolates past actions with present, making it difficult to follow story developments.
Starring the beautiful and talented Zhang Ziyi and possessing strong production values, the somewhat self-conscious film is certain to make the festival rounds and win distribution in many territories. One can only hope the director takes another pass at his film in the editing room.
The story begins in Manchuria in 1928, where a young Japanese student, Itami (Toru Nakamura), is called back to Japan for military service. This tears him away from Cynthia (Zhang), the Chinese woman he clandestinely loves. Returning from the train station, Cynthia is witness to the murder of her brother, a political agitator, and several others by Japanese extremists.
Flash forward to Shanghai in 1931. Neither of these characters is immediately in view. Instead, the movie takes up the story of two other lovers forced to part -- switchboard operator Yiling (Li Bingbing) and her fiance, Szeto (Lui Ye), who say tender and romantic goodbyes while demonstrators protesting Japanese incursions into China march in the street below. Soon, though, Yiling is heartened by news her lover will return on the train that afternoon.
In an implausible sequence at the train station, a Chinese resistance group named Purple Butterfly and Japanese spies both mistake Szeto for an assassin hired to hit the head of the Japanese secret service. In a bloody shootout, Szeto is wounded, Yiling is killed, and we realize that Cynthia -- now known as Ding Hui -- belongs to Purple Butterfly.
Into this messy situation steps Itami, returned from Tokyo to take over as No. 2 man in the Japanese secret service. Szeto is captured, beaten, then freed by the Japanese when Itami realizes he is not the assassin. But he must promise to spy for Japan. Meanwhile, Purple Butterfly head Xie Ming (Feng Yuangzheng) learns of Ding Hui's former relationship with Itami and decides to use it to his advantage by making certain the two former lovers meet once more. Only later is it revealed these two were once lovers as well.
In this confusing way, we finally arrive at the heart of the story, but without ever establishing the passion that once existed between the two lovers. In the nearly silent opening sequences, the two had looked more like a couple about to divorce rather than one saddened by their forced separation. And once back together, the spy/counterspy elements take over, never allowing the two to re-establish an emotional connection.
The subplot involving Szeto fits awkwardly with the rest of the film as it fails to amplify the story of two lovers who may or may not betray each other.
The actors are all fine, though Lou favors claustrophobic close-ups that often cramp their style. Plus, his cinematographer, Yang Yu, uses lenses with such shallow depth of field that much action plays a kind of blurry impressionism. Music ranges from great Chinese swing tunes of the era to Jorg Lemberg's symphonic score.
PURPLE BUTTERFLY
A Shanghai Films Studio/ Dream Factory production
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Lou Ye
Producers: Zhu Wongde, Wang Wei
Director of photography: Yang Yu
Production designer: Liu Weixin
Music: Jorg Lemberg
Editors: Chen Xiaohong, Lou Ye
Cast: Ding Hui: Zhang Ziyi
Szeto: Lui Ye
Xie Ming: Feng Yuangzheng
Itami: Toru Nakamura
Yiling: Li Bingbing
Running time -- 127 minutes
No MPAA rating
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