The Banquet
Purple Butterfly Viewing Guide
Purple Butterfly is a difficult to understand movie, as it tells it's story in a very subtle fashion and demands attentive viewing. But it is carefully made, and everything fits together. There is a valid artistic goal behind its method, I think this quote from Ella Taylor expresses it perfectly:
Like life, Purple Butterfly is willfully opaque, yet in its chaotic eternal motion we find a bold refutation of the idea that only we live in confusing times...
This guide is intended for those who have seen the film already, so it does contain spoilers. If you have not seen the film, Monkeypeaches has a viewers guide with the necessary historical background and is mostly spoiler free (despite his warning at the start.)
The times mentioned below are keyed to Palm's DVD edition. The thumbnails can be clicked to enlarge. I refer to Cynthia as Xin Xia because that is her proper Chinese name.
1) Xin Xia takes the name Ding Hui after she joins the resistance, so she is referred to by both names, depending on the context.
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2) Some have asked why Xin Xia and Itami seem so cold toward one another despite being lovers. Mocha shed some light on this point in a forum post:
"It is true that the two never showed strong feelings toward each other, for good reason. Tension between China and Japan had grown strong coming 1928. A love between a Chinese and a Japanese was socially unfavorable. in 1931, it was taboo, especially among resistence forces. Imagine what kind of pressure such a love must have been under.
Remember these two key phrases in the chinese culture at the time of hardship: "vulnerablity to fate" and "unable to choose". this kind of sadness has always been a beauty in the eyes of chinese poets and artists, attracting them to the creation of countless works.
Hence, it would not have been authentic nor aesthetic if the two did establish visible emotional connection."
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3) Itami and Xin Xia visit Yoshiyama's bookstore (6:15). The dialogue between Itami and his friend is in Japanese. This scene is referred to at two later points in the movie. First, when Itami's biography is recited at a meeting of the resistance, they mention that he often visited a bookstore run by his friend, although this line was left out of the DVD's subtitles (1:00:10). Later, when Itami reunites with Xin Xia, he mentions the days they used to spend "reading in Yoshiyama's." (1:07:50)
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4) While Itami is at the train station, Japanese soldiers are running past him (10:20). This is just one of many such touches intended to remind viewers of the reality of the Japanese occupation. In other places you will see militant Japanese youths walking the streets, Japanese monks, and Japanese sings outside of businesses.
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5) The jazz song that Yiling puts on at 19:00 is titled "I Can't Get Your Love" . As you can see from the lyrics, it's a very appropriate to the mood of the film.
I can't get your love
You don't give me light, like a moonless winter night
You don't even give me a foolish glance
Inside my dreams this dark night can't find a gleam of light
I can't get your love
I'm like a spring blossom without rain
You don't even give me a foolish glance
Inside my dreams this spring blossom vanishes away.
I want your love
I want your heart
But you don't give me warmth
Where can I find the strength to pursue you?
I can't get your love
You don't give me light, like a moonless winter night
You don't even give me a foolish glance
Inside my dreams this dark night can't find a gleam of light
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6) Watch carefully while Yiling is on the trolly to the railway station. At around 25:20, you will see Ding Hui and Xie Ming in the background as they are on their way to the same station to pick up the assassin they hired.
This is important because at the very end of the movie, at 2:00:40, you will see the exact same scene, but the camera will move to follow Ding and Xie instead of Yiling. This proves the final scene is a flashback, and we know the exact date it occurs. Ding Hui's feelings at the end are therefore prophetic.
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7) The only other flashbacks in the movie are when Szeto is remembering Yiling. Any time you see her after the incident at the train station, it is a flashback.
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8) The resistance group (Purple Butterfly) is at the train station to meet an assassin they hired. Why does Szeto get mistaken for the assassin? The real assassin is wearing a white shirt with black suspenders. At 29:20 you will see him on the train, he turns around to put some papers into his coat hanging behind him. A few seconds later, Szeto puts on that coat instead his own. As Szeto is leaving the train, the camera will zoom onto his jacket, where there is a purple butterfly pin on his lapel. That's the sign they were looking for, and it's why he gets asked about his "nice suit."
The shooting begins when Japanese agents try to interrupt the rendezvous. During the shootout, you will see the real assassin come up behind the man who gave Szeto the bag, who then shoots him in the confusion.
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9) Itami visits Japanese intelligence headquarters (45:40). The dialogue in this scene is all in Japanese. The man Itami is introduced to is Yamamoto, head of Japanese intelligence in Shanghai and Purple Butterfly's main target. When Szeto went through the contents of the bag that was intended for the assassin, it included a picture of Yamamoto.
10) After the Japanese let Szeto go, you will see him sitting by a window (53:05). Next to him are the jars that hold Yiling's butterflys. He's staying in her apartment, possibly to hide from the Japanese, or maybe just to remember her.
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11) (56:30) The shop owner Xie Ming visits is the informant who was talking to Itami in the coffeeshop earlier .
12) The love scene between Itami and Xin Xia was edited when the flim was released in China (1:05:00). You see them staring at each other in the dark, and then it cuts to the afterward. The Cannes version had two extra minutes inserted here. The explanation I heard was that the Chinese government objected to depicting a Chinese woman sleeping with a Japanese man, especially during the historical context of the movie. The scene was not restored in the US release.
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13) (1:12:20). If Szeto is in hiding, how does Ding Hui find him? When she goes to meet Szeto, she brings with her the telegram that Szeto sent to Yiling, which Ding Hui took out of Yiling's hand after the shootout. The telegram has Yiling's address, and you can see her checking it as she goes there. That's why Szeto is so surprised and frightened when she shows up. Also, it's her knock that interrupts his suicide. (This is proven by the timing: her knocks are 13 seconds apart, the same as when Szeto is interrrupted.)
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14) At 1:17:55 we see Itami sitting alone in the coffee shop, thinking to himself. He is alone because Xie Ming killed the informant earlier. This is important, because he knows that if Purple Butterfly found out who the informant is, they must also know that he was talking to Itami. Itami is an intelligence officer in the safe zone of Shanghai, that means he trying to stay undercover. If they had found out who he is, that would also make Xin Xia's sudden appearance suspicious.
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15) The dialogue in the officer's club is all in Japanese. (1:22:05 )
16) Ding Hui sees Szeto talking to Itami (1:22:45). The paper Szeto hands over is the telegram, which proves Ding Hui/Xin Xia was at the station when the assassin arrived. That, combined with her sudden appearance, basically nails her as a member of the resistance.
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17) After Itami says "Follow that woman" at 1:28:40, notice that Szeto has seen Ding Hui/Xin Xia meeting with Itami. After this, he doesn't know what side she's on. That explains his behavior at the dance. (I love that image of Szeto in profile with the rain coming down.)
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18) The Japanese song played while they are dancing is titled "The Moon of a Garden Bridge". The lyrics are:
"Lights twinkle in the river. This is Shanghai.
Coming back with you from afar,
I recollect the nights when we fought together.
The Garden Bridge, the blue moon...
I walk back to the peaceful Wu Song Road from the Bund
Endless contemplations reflecting on the river.
The lights of the sailing boats twinkle. A dream in mind.
Young girl, who is the white rose on your chest crying and withering for?
Oh, the moon of a garden bridge... "
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19) The climactic moment (1:43:30). According to Mocha, the dialogue in this scene is not correctly translated on the DVD. Itami's true words are even more cruel. Yamamoto was not killed, nor does Itami intend to return to Tokyo with Xin Xia. Mocha's translation is: "Yamamoto couldn't make it. He's gone. He's gone back to Tokyo, safely. Xie Ming...couldn't make it either. He's dead. Our mission is accomplished. Yours is never going to be. We won, Xin Xia."
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20) After the dance scene, Itami goes to the bar to light a cigarette (1:46:50). Look very closely at his fingers and you will see blood. He was shot earlier in the day by Szeto, and his wound is bleeding. But it is also symbolic of his actions in plotting the death of Xin Xia's comrades.
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(Please do not repost this guide without permission - GY)