Purple Butterfly
1928. Manchuria. Itami, a young Japanese man, falls deeply in love with Cynthia, a beautiful Chinese girl. Their brief happiness ends when he is called home for his military service and they are forced to part. Returning sorrowfully from the train station where she has bid her lover farewell, Cynthia witnesses her brother’s bloody murder at the hands of Japanese right-wing extremists. Three years l ater, Shanghai has been unofficially occupied by Japan. The city is tense, rife with violence and barely contained anarchy. Cynthia – now known as Ding Hui – is working for Purple Butterfly, a resistance group planning to assassinate Yamamoto, head of the Japanese secret service. Itami is also in Shanghai, operating as a secret agent and reporting directly to Yamamoto.
Yesterday Once More
While Needing You and Love on a Diet sang, Yesterday Once More only seems to sigh. A pseudo caper flick that mixes fifties Hollywood glamour with Johnnie To’s obtuse storytelling, this third and final (?) film in the Andy-Sammi-Johnny canon is a mixed bag. The premise itself is too clever for its own good, but the film still proves intriguing and possibly entertaining, and the actors bring practiced chemistry to the table. However, this movie could understandably piss off the most ardent fans of the trio’s earlier work.
Shanghai Love Story
Not Avialable
Release Date: November 30, 1999
Genre: Drama
Staring: Marcellino, David Wu, Wu Chien Lien, Farah Diana
Studio : Blockbuster Groups
On the Wrong Track
This tale of disaffected youth from Clarence Fok features Andy Lau in an early starring role. Although both director and actor show glimpses of the talent they will display in later projects, the film itself is thrown off track by unlikable characters, crappy plotting, and general irrelevance.