Purple Butterfly

Ye Lou with a more traditional film. I saw this rather early on in my exploration of Asian cinema, which explains why back then this setting felt pretty novel. With so many contemporary Chinese films harking back to that exact point in time, I wasn't quite as enamored with Purple Butterfly the second time around.

The Purple Butterfly was a resistance group that tried to fight the Japanese occupation of Shanghai. Ding Hui is a member of the group. When she is reunited with an ex-boyfriend she doesn't suspect any foul, what she doesn't know is that he is tasked with weeding out the Purple Butterfly members.

Le goes for a noirish take on the genre. There's lots of rain, many a dark alley, and plenty of shady deals. The cinematography is proper, the performances are solid and the score is pleasant, but there are many similar films out there and Purple Butterfly doesn't do quite enough to set itself apart. It's a good film, just not the masterpiece I once thought it to be.