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Purple Butterfly DVD Review

Purple Butterfly was first shown at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival and was released in China a few months later. Poor box office results in China doomed the film to obscurity.  For a while it looked as if there would never be an American release, but the success of Hero and the hype behind House of Flying Daggers gave distributor Palm Pictures the opportunity to capitalize on Ziyi Zhang's growing fame here in the US. A handful of screenings in major American cities produced some favorable reviews, and now Palm has finally released the film on DVD for everyone to enjoy.

There are several traditional film reviews (and much more) on my Purple Butterfly page, so here I will focus on just a few important topics. I begin by discussing aspects of the film itself, and then look at the technical features of the DVD.

If you have watched the film already, you should see my illustrated viewer's guide which takes a detailed look at the more confusing plot points.

The Acting

Purple Butterfly is a slow, dark historical drama full of atmosphere and powerful acting. Set in 1930s Shanghai, a vulnerable young woman joins the anti-Japanese resistance and is tasked with seducing her former Japanese lover, who now works for Japanese intelligence.

Purple Butterfly was Ziyi Zhang's first mature dramatic role. It is also her most underappreciated performance. Director Lou Ye gives his actors a great deal of freedom, and his methods draw comparison with Wong Kar Wai (2046). Ziyi once described them in an interview: "The actors were following their feelings, no rehearsal, no telling you to lay down, you just lay down. No telling you to jump up, you just jump up. So it's a big challenge..." You can see the actors' creativity emerging during the long, patient scenes. 

As an actress, the movie was a success for her. Nearly every reviewer singles out the acting as the film's strongest point, Ziyi in particular. Some examples

"Purple Butterfly" affords a terrific role for Ziyi Zhang... She is a genuine star, a compellingly exquisite beauty with formidable resources as an actress. Her Cynthia is an innately strong, intelligent woman whose courage and emotions are constantly put to extreme tests. - Los Angeles Times

Zhang Ziyi, having proved herself as a glorious action heroine, now steps gracefully into a new genre, evoking the hard, enigmatic elegance of a 1940's screen heroine; cannily shifting between steely decisiveness and romantic vulnerability. - New York Times

The Plot

What every reviewer also mentions is that this is a confusing movie. This is because it places the viewer alongside it's characters in order to share in their feelings, but also to experience the chaos of their time. In his director's statement, Lou Ye expresses his feelings thus:

Our lives are still chaotic, still hard to grasp or control. Just like a movie, a story or a character. Sometimes we may feel uneasy, troubled, even desperate when we lose control, but sometimes it doesn't feel bad at all.  Because it allows us to think about the past, the present and the future in peace...You feel that maybe that's the way things are. Everything is possible.  The story can take place at any time and end at any time.

While PB is difficult to understand, it is also very carefully made, and everything fits together. The movie tells it's story in a very subtle fashion, and demands careful viewing.  There is a valid artistic goal behind its method, and 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...

I wrote an extensive, illustrated viewer's guide that untangles all the difficult plot points and also provides some historical background.  If you found the movie confusing, this will set you on the right path.

The Cinematography

The new DVD finally allows the cinematography to be appreciated. Described as "a widescreen artfulness that marries realism with high style" (UFilm) and "the most impressive photographical research seen in some years" (G. Valens), director Lou Ye uses mostly natural lighting, many closeups, and long unedited shots to create a sense of intimacy and realism.  Within these tight confines, he still manages to film moments of dark, Rembrandtesque beauty. Pictures are worth a thousand words, so here are some DVD stills, there are many more on the Purple Butterfly page:

About the DVD

The US release by Palm is a huge improvement over the Chinese DVD that Zoke produced almost two years ago. Most important of course are the english subtitles, but also the image quality is a huge step beyond the dreadful Zoke disc. A quick comparison shows the clear superiority of Palm's release. In the pictures below, Palm's DVD is on the left, and Zoke's on the right. The video samples provide even more striking evidence, but note that the english subtitles on the Zoke video are my own addition:

Video sample, Palm - 3 MB avi	Video sample, Zoke - 3 MB avi

Palm's DVD is not perfect however.  The video is cropped slightly on the top and bottom, and there are some specks and scratches, but the biggest problem is the color in certain scenes. The Chinese transfer had a strong greenish hue and Palm went overboard in trying to correct it for their release. The result is an unnatural blue tint in some scenes.  The problem is clearly shown below; again Palm's DVD is on the left:

The blue tint is not present in every scene, but I would say it is there for about half of the movie.

The subtitles are well done, though a bit large.  Thankfully, Palm has translated both songs in the movie, including the Japanese jazz song during the dance floor scene that even Chinese viewers would not have understood. The lyrics of these songs have an important symbolic significance for the film, so understanding them greatly enhances the viewer's experience.  One improvement that could have been made is to have indicated when the dialogue is in Japanese, so that viewers could more easily tell which "side" each person is on.

There are two audio tracks, stereo and 5.1 surround, both in Mandarin. The sound is adequate, with minor improvements over the Chinese DVD.

The US DVD runs five minutes longer than the Chinese (127 min vs 122), but this is simply due to the 4% PAL to NTSC conversion slowdown. It does not contain the love scene that was censored by the Chinese Government, as I had previously hoped.

The DVD has no special features to speak of, and the trailer is just the Chinese version with subtitles. But what the DVD lacks you can get right here.  On the Purple Butterfly page there is a viewer's guide, an interview with Ziyi, videos of the cast's appearance in Cannes, and some music clips. Finally, here are some high resolution promotional photos, courtesy of Palm Pictures:  

02/18/05

 

 

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