Purple Butterfly
紫蝴蝶
“United by Passion. Divided by Fate.”
Synopsis
Ding Hui is a member of Purple Butterfly, a powerful resistance group in Japanese occupied Shanghai. An unexpected encounter reunites her with Itami, an ex-lover and officer with a secret police unit tasked with dismantling Purple Butterfly.
Top Cast
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Release History & Theatrical Window
Cannes Film Festival
Festival / Special Debut
July 4, 2012
Physical Home Media
Financials & Box Office Performance
Production Budget
$1.2M
Filming & production cost
Worldwide Gross
$750K
Total global ticket sales
Box Office Return
0.63x
-$450K deficit
Theatrical Status
Budget Return
Box office tier
Key Information & Fast Facts
- Director
- Lou Ye
- Screenplay & Story
- Lou Ye
- Original Score
- Jörg Lemberg
- Original Title
- 紫蝴蝶
- Country of Origin
- China, Hong Kong, France
- Spoken Languages
- Vietnamese, Mandarin, Japanese
- Runtime
- 2h 7m
- Production Budget
- $1.2M
- Worldwide Gross
- $750K
- Production Studios
- Shanghai Film Studio, Lou Yi, Wild Bunch, Dream Factory
Creative Leadership & Key Crew
Lou Ye
Lou Ye
Jörg Lemberg
Wang Yu
Xiaohong Cheng, Lou Ye
Zhu Yongde, Wang Wei, Jean-Louis Piel, Vincent Maraval, Alain de la Mata
Department Leadership Roster
Zhu Yongde
Producer
Lou Ye
Director
Lou Ye
Screenplay
Jörg Lemberg
Original Music Composer
Liu Weixin
Costume Design
Xiaohong Cheng
Editor
Lou Ye
Editor
Wang Yu
Director of Photography
Wang Wei
Producer
Production Stills & Gallery
Official cinematic photography and background stills for Purple Butterfly.
Featured In Curated Collections
Editorial lists, community rankings, and cinematic collections featuring Purple Butterfly.
War: World War II
Auto-filled from Letterboxd lists
Spy-Thriller
Contemplative Cinema - slow's additions
Imported from MUBI list: https://mubi.com/en/lists/contemplative-cinema-a-few-more-additions-to-the-collection
Contemplative Cinema - slow's additions
Imported from MUBI list: https://mubi.com/en/lists/contemplative-cinema-a-few-more-additions-to-the-collection
Directory of World Cinema_ China
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Frequently Asked Questions About Purple Butterfly
Quick factual answers about cast, synopsis, director, box office, and release information.
What is Purple Butterfly about?
Ding Hui is a member of Purple Butterfly, a powerful resistance group in Japanese occupied Shanghai. An unexpected encounter reunites her with Itami, an ex-lover and officer with a secret police unit tasked with dismantling Purple Butterfly.
Who directed Purple Butterfly?
Purple Butterfly was directed by Lou Ye.
Who stars in Purple Butterfly?
The principal cast of Purple Butterfly includes Zhang Ziyi, Liu Ye, Feng Yuanzheng, Toru Nakamura, Li Bingbing.
When was Purple Butterfly released and how long is it?
Purple Butterfly was released in 2003 with a total runtime of 2h 7m.
What was the box office and production budget of Purple Butterfly?
Purple Butterfly had a reported production budget of $1.2M and grossed $750K at the worldwide box office (0.63 return on budget, classified as a underperformed).
Who composed the musical score for Purple Butterfly?
The original motion picture soundtrack for Purple Butterfly was composed by Jörg Lemberg.