25 March 2005

Chicago Premiere of PURPLE BUTTERFLY @ Gene Siskel Film Center

PURPLE BUTTERFLY
(ZI HUDIE)
2003, Lou Ye, China/France, 127 min.
With Zhang Ziyi, Liu Ye

"Hectic, lyrical, swooningly romantic and almost unwatchably brutal,PURPLE BUTTERFLY deploys a modern Asian gangster-movie aesthetic to tell a love story of Shakespearian dimensions."-- Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly.


"This wildly impressionistic period thriller. . .has plenty going for it, including a terrific climax." -- J. Hoberman


Village Voice Star-crossed lovers face each other across time and the void of politics when the Japanese occupy Shanghai and Cynthia (Zhang), an undercover resistance fighter, works in opposition to her former sweetheart Itami, now a Japanese secret agent. Lou Ye's epic, boasting remarkable set pieces and drenched in haunting period atmosphere, conveys the sweep of history through jagged, interlocking stories of betrayal, mistaken identity,and foiled love. In Mandarin, Japanese, and Vietnamese with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)

March 25 -- 31
Friday, Monday, and Tuesday at 6:00 pm and 8:30 pm
Saurday at 2:45 pm, 5:15 pm, and 7:45 pm
Sunday at 2:45 pm and 5:15 pm
Wednesday at 6:00 pm
Thursday at 8:30 pm

Gene Siskel Film Center
16 North State Street
Chicago Il 60601
Tel: 312.846.2600
Gene Siskel Film Center