Purple Butterfly

Purple Butterfly
Theatrical poster for Purple Butterfly's American release
Directed by	Lou Ye
Produced by	Lou Ye Wang Wei Zhu Yongde
Written by	Lou Ye
Starring	Zhang Ziyi Liu Ye Tôru Nakamura Li Bingbing
Music by	Jörg Lemberg
Cinematography	Wang Yu
Edited by	Lou Ye Che Xiaohong
Distributed by	Palm Pictures
Release date	Cannes: May 22, 2003 United States: November 26, 2004
Running time	127 minutes
Country	China
Language	Mandarin Japanese

Purple Butterfly (Chinese: 紫蝴蝶; pinyin: Zǐ Húdié) is a 2003 Chinese film, directed by Lou Ye. It is Lou's third film after Weekend Lover and Suzhou River. It stars Chinese mainland actors, Zhang Ziyi, Liu Ye and Li Bingbing, as well as Japanese actor Tôru Nakamura. The film premiered on May 23, 2003, at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, and was given a limited release in New York City the following year on November 26, 2004.

The film was only released in one theater in the United States (in New York City) for three weeks where it grossed $17,790.

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.Metacritic records the film received a 68 score out of 100, meaning "generally favorable reviews".