The Cannes Film Festival, which opened last Thursday, is known for showcasing intellectual, foreign films.

Films that will compete for the Golden Palm include: Turkish film "Uzak (Distant)", a powerful study of how a man's home life is upset when a jobless cousin moves in and ruins his privacy; the Italian "Il Cuore Altrove (A Heart Elsewhere)", a touching, bitter-sweet drama; and the Chinese film "Purple Butterfly (Zi Hudie)", a story that takes place in 1930s Shanghai.

It is the only Chinese language film in competition for the Golden Palm and is getting ready for its world premiere on May 22. Director Lou Ye, actress Zhang Ziyi and co-star Liu Ye said they had great confidence in the film.

The story starts in 1928, when Itami (Nakamura Tooru), a young Japanese man, falls deeply in love with Xin Xia, a beautiful Chinese girl (Zhang Ziyi). Their brief happiness ends when he is called home for military service.

Returning sorrowfully from the train station where she has bid her lover farewell, Xin Xia sees her brother brutally murdered by Japanese right-wing extremists.

Three years later, Shanghai has been unofficially occupied by Japan. The city is tense and full of violence and barely contained anarchy. Xin Xia ¡ª now known as Ding Hui ¡ª is working for Purple Butterfly, a resistance group planning to assassinate Yamamoto, the head of the Japanese secret service. Itami is also in Shanghai, operating as a secret agent and reporting directly to Yamamoto.

Arriving at Shanghai station to meet his fiancee, the young Szeto (played by Liu Ye) is mistaken by the resistance fighters for the assassin they have engaged to eliminate Yamamoto.

Violence erupts and Szeto's fiancee (Yiling, played by Li Bingbing) is killed in the crossfire. Szeto escapes with the Purple Butterfly members, all of whom believe him to be the hired killer. Only Ding Hui knows the truth. Three destinies are linked by chance, and three fates set in tragic motion.

For actress Zhang Ziyi, who gained fame for the Oscar-winning film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", this is another opportunity to increase her star power. There is talk that the film's chance at winning the Golden Palm is because of her presence.

Although the actress grew up in an average working class family, her childhood was different. At eight years of age, she began practising dance, ballet, and gymnastics.

At age 11, she passed the entrance exam to Beijing's Secondary Dance School. She finished that school at 15, and was promoted to the Beijing Dance Academy.

However, at age 16, she didn't see dance as a real career. She decided instead to try acting and attended the China Central Drama School.

In 1998, when she was 18 and still a student, she auditioned for a shampoo commercial. Luckily, the director, Zhang Yimou, was at the audition scouting for someone to appear in his next film, "The Road Home (Wo de Fuqin Muqin)". He chose Ziyi out of 40,000 applicants.

The film gave her exposure to the media, some good, and some bad. The film was also a success and she received the Hundred Flowers (baihua) Award for best actress. The film was later released in some theatres in the US by Sony Pictures Classics.

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" made her more popular and people in Hollywood began looking at her for their movies. Her only problem was her lack of English.

But, director Brett Ratner had a role for her in his movie, "Rush Hour 2", where she mostly spoke mandarin, and only had several words of English. As her first English movie, it was not a bad start. It definitely gave Ziyi a career boost.

Editor: Wings