Just like nuclear energy, long cinematic pauses can be used properly for the benefit of all, while in the wrong hands they can cause mass misery.
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02/02/05
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Purple Butterfly (2004)
45
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:20
Fresh:9
Rotten:11
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: Ye Lou's Purple Butterfly is atmospheric and moody, but the story is frustratingly muddled.
Theatrical Release:Nov 26, 2004 Limited
Synopsis: This melancholic, brooding romantic thriller stars Zhang Ziyi (HERO; CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON) as Ding Hui, a Chinese woman who is part of a secret anti-Japanese terrorist organization in... [More]
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Reviews for Purple Butterfly
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09/26/05
There are two movies battling for supremacy in Butterfly, and both lose. As does the audience.
01/21/05
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01/24/05
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01/24/05
O filme é tecnicamente irrepreensível, mas o ritmo lento da narrativa e a auto-indulgência do diretor Lou Ye simplesmente destroem a paciência do espectador.
11/01/03
The art of it is entirely in the atmospherics; the rest is melodrama. Its 127 minute exercise in puzzle solving is draining.
01/09/05
Give in to the mood piece and bathe in its glamorous nostalgic glow. It's a beauty.
12/03/04
Too often, Purple Butterfly is as impenetrable as Zhang's placid, obdurate beauty.
11/24/04
Top CriticAn extravagant, intriguing but ultimately very frustrating period piece.
08/28/04
Lou Ye ... has chosen a murky and disjointed means to narrate this story.
05/28/03
Top CriticHectic, lyrical, swooningly romantic and almost unwatchably brutal.
01/12/05
A gorgeous period melodrama, packed with romantic tragedy and violent intrigue, it is both gritty and dreamy, political and personal.
01/14/05
As atmospheric and moody as a film noir, the stylish, sometimes perplexing Purple Butterfly is a remarkable period piece, evoking the bustling, dense and increasingly dangerous Shanghai of the '30s.
01/13/05
Top CriticThe plot may be a little hard to follow, but the film-making is skillful and any effort on the viewer’s part is well worth it
05/28/05
Throughout, Zhang emotes like Bette Davis.
11/26/04
Mr. Lou synthesizes a wide range of styles and influences -- from Casablanca to Wong Kar-wai -- resulting in a movie that, for all its haunting strangeness, seems curiously familiar.
11/29/04
Top CriticAn at times pretty but nonetheless forgettable film.
01/20/05
At the center of it all is, of course, Zhang. Charismatic and intense, she excels in her most grown-up role to date.
02/25/05
... rich with emotional turmoil and searing beauty, but it could have used a little more time in the editing room to make sense of it all.
01/10/05
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