Purple Butterfly

Purple Butterfly (2003)

Genres - Drama, Action, Adventure, War, Historical Film  |   Sub-Genres - Message Movie, Political Drama  |   Release Date - Nov 26, 2004 (USA - Limited)  |   Run Time - 127 min.  |   Countries - China  |   MPAA Rating - R
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Synopsis by Tracie Cooper

Directed by Lou Ye, Zi Hudie revolves around the underground faction of anti-Nipponese fighters in 1930s Shanghai, just prior to the onset of the Sino-Japanese war. It's only the beginning when Cynthia (Zhang Ziyi), a young Chinese woman, learns the news of her lover Itami's (Toru Nakamura) rapidly approaching return to the military. In a second and even more devastating blow, Cynthia's brother, a contributor to an anti-Japanese newspaper, is killed by a Japanese activist. Three years later, switchboard operator Tang Yiling (Li Bingbing) and Situ (Liu Ye), her fiancé, are introduced to Cynthia after inadvertently heading into a protest held by a resistance group code-named Purple Butterfly, of which Cynthia (who has since changed her name to Ding Hui) has become a part. Ultimately, a botched assassination attempt leaves Situ with a mysterious briefcase; now a suspect himself, Situ is arrested by none other than Itami, who, after reuniting with his old flame, has no idea of her role in a complicit plan to have his boss (Kin Ei) assassinated.

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Keywords

anti-establishment, assassination, boss [employer], briefcase, conspiracy, Japanese [nationality], mistaken-identity, resistance-fighters