Purple Butterfly
Palm Pictures | Release Date: November 26, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
4
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen Johnson
A gorgeously shot, ambitious epic. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
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 Read full review
80
The New York TimesDana Stevens
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. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Hectic, lyrical, swooningly romantic and almost unwatchably brutal, Purple Butterfly deploys a modern Asian gangster-movie aesthetic to tell a love story of Shakespearean dimensions. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
A sumptuously moody memory play. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Dark and challenging. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Director Lou Ye, who gave us the lilting "Suzhou River," doesn't care much for dialogue. He lets Wang Yu's pulsating camerawork do the talking. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Too often, Purple Butterfly is as impenetrable as Zhang's placid, obdurate beauty. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
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. Read full review
50
VarietyDerek Elley
An often remarkable, often infuriating lateral spin on genre material that desperately needs another sesh at the editing table. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The effect is hypnotically disorienting, but the less familiar you are with this period in 20th-century Chinese history, the easier it is to get hopelessly lost in the tangle of personal and political loyalties and betrayals. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Ye bites off substantially more than he can chew. Read full review
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