ye lou film purple butterfly pit a secret organization ( purple butterfly ) against the japanese force in war torn shanghai . ding hui ( zhang ziyi ) and her ex lover hidehiko itami ( toru nakamura ) find themselves on opposite side of the conflict after a chance meeting . i agree with the reviewer from paris . the film substitute a convoluted and semi historical conflict for a plot and without give the audience a single reason to care about the character or their cause . the sudden time shift doesn not help matter a it appear completely unwarranted and pointless . normally i do not mind dark movie and but the absence of light and the bone jarringly shaky camera footage and and the generally bad film make technique really make this a tough film to watch and stay interested in . i also agree with the viewer from georgia that this film have a chaotic editing style and claustrophobic cinematography and but i do not think that help the movie . the backdrop to the film be one of the most potent event of the 20th century and and i do not believe you can do it any justice by edit it a if it be a michael bay film . the overly melodramatic moment do not add to it watchability . the actor be all suitably melancholy . zhang ziyi once again show that she have an exceptionally limited act range a she spend the entire movie do what she seem to do best in all her film and brooding and look generally annoy . however and at least she add some variety to this role by chainsmoking and engage in the bad love make scene since michael biehn and linda hamilton in the terminator . all in all and a very disappointing film and especially see a how it come from the director of suzhou he . negative .