Actress Zhang Ziyi's Purple Butterfly is one of the films in the competitive section at Cannes. The martial arts actress was last seen in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Purple Butterfly, Chinese director Lou Ye's first film to be selected in Cannes, is set against the backdrop of Manchuria in the 1930s. It is about a young man Itami (Tori Nakamura) who falls in love with Cynthia (Zhang). Later, when he is called home from his military service, they are forced to part.

(Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

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