68
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco ChronicleA gorgeously shot, ambitious epic.
- 90Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasAs 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
- 80The New York TimesDana StevensThe New York TimesDana StevensMr. 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.
- 80L.A. WeeklyElla TaylorL.A. WeeklyElla TaylorHectic, lyrical, swooningly romantic and almost unwatchably brutal, Purple Butterfly deploys a modern Asian gangster-movie aesthetic to tell a love story of Shakespearean dimensions.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoDirector 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.
- 58Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumToo often, Purple Butterfly is as impenetrable as Zhang's placid, obdurate beauty.
- 58Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean AxmakerSeattle Post-IntelligencerSean AxmakerRich 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.
- 50VarietyDerek ElleyVarietyDerek ElleyAn often remarkable, often infuriating lateral spin on genre material that desperately needs another sesh at the editing table.
- 50TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghThe 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.
- 38Boston GlobeTy BurrBoston GlobeTy BurrYe bites off substantially more than he can chew.