Purple Butterfly 紫蝴蝶
Opening Gala / Retro Screening
Year of Production 2003
Production Countries/Regions
China France
Duration 127 mins
Genres Drama Romance History War
Dialogue Language(s)
Mandarin Japanese Vietnamese
Subtitle Language(s) English
Director(s) Ye Lou
Director’s Bio
Ye Lou was born to a theatrical family in Shanghai in 1965. He spent his childhood in theatres and studied at Shanghai School of Fine Arts before working as an animator at Shanghai Animation Studio. He graduated from Beijing Film Academy in 1989, majoring in directing. His films have been selected by all the major international festivals (Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Taipei Golden Horse Awards,ChineseIndependent Film Festival, Asian Film Awards) and awarded various prizes.
Synopsis
Ding Hui is a member of Purple Butterfly, a powerful resistance group in Japanese occupied Shanghai. An unexpected encounter reunites her with Itami, an ex-lover and officer with a secret police unit tasked with dismantling Purple Butterfly.
Festivals & Awards
2003 56th Cannes Film Festival – Main Competition
Scriptwriter(s)
Lou Ye
Producer(s)
Ye Lou, An Nai, Jean-Louis Piel
Executive Producer(s)
An Nai, Jean-Louis Piel, Alain de la Mata
Key Casts
Leslie Cheung, Joey Wang, Wu Ma, Lau Siu Ming
Curators’ note
Set against the volatile shadows of 1930s Shanghai, Lou Ye’s Purple Butterfly is a visually arresting exploration of love, loyalty, and betrayal. The film traces the fraught reunion of former lovers Cynthia and Itami, whose lives become entangled in espionage and political turmoil. True to Lou’s signature style, the film employs a muted yet saturated palette and disjointed temporal shifts to mirror moral and emotional uncertainties. Relying on mood over dialogue, it renders the ache of personal loyalty in an era defined by its brutality. (Crystal Xinjie Wang)
Director’s Statement
