Purple Butterfly

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11/13/2011 Only one reason to see this......Ziyi Zhang. And the imteresting thing is that her facal expressions and manner are exactly the same as in her classic next film THE ROAD HOME. Obviously she was spotted by a director in this her first film, and he wasn't watching this rather gloomy colourless film but instead saw that this girl would light up the screen in a beautifully told love story. So watch THE ROAD HOME instead! See more 05/16/2011 Visuellement excellent, mais l'histoire est un peu mince. See more 04/04/2011 What a great premise: in 1931 Shanghai, Zhang Ziyi is ordered to assassinate a Japanese official -- who happens to be her long-lost beau. And what a terrible movie! Scene after scene of minutes-long closeups of characters walking, standing, sitting -- but rarely actually *doing* or *saying* anything. I'm sorry, but lingering on a couple wordlessly dancing to a record for five minutes does not qualify as character development. Nor does following a woman walking along a railroad platform. . .and walking. . .even if the camera eventually switches to follow a different character walking on the other side. . .and walking. . .and. . .zzzzzzzzzz. And the big "reveal" at the end takes 10 minutes to present 10 seconds' worth of information. If I'd had any remaining interest in the paper-doll characters at that point, the comically glacial pace might have bothered me. Don't get me wrong, I like an "operatic" epic as much as anybody, but this is Mystery Science Theater territory. It makes 2001 look like a Michael Bay popcorn flick. What little action there is doesn't help matters, either. It's barely coherent, with characters we mostly don't know shooting at each other in dark, murky locations. This concept deserved a good movie, not a sleep aid. See more 11/19/2010 a visual feast, that i give it. but a royal, sumptuous bore. bet my last penny 80% of the critics who raved about this were gwailos. See more 05/01/2010 A beautiful looking film. It certainly lived up to its "atmospheric" tag. However, it was also frustratingly slow. It was a torture sitting through it. See more 04/25/2010 I really don't understand why Suzhou River is so highly acclaimed, but this isn't. This is at least as good as it. I admit that editing - trying to be stylish by putting events chronologically out of order - is kinda messed up, but still, images and performances are very powerful and engaging. The biggest problem of the films is that the director gets little bit too showy - especially the last sequence (not the archival footage of Japanese army invading China, right before that). See more Read all reviews

Purple Butterfly

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