Butterfly Lovers

Based on the Chinese folk tale 'Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai', this romantic tragedy portrays 'Romeo and Juliet' from a distinctly Chinese angle, with its two star-crossed lovers facing the obstacle of a class-based arranged marriage and the archaic idea that 'a virtuous woman is one without any talent.' Their fateful convergence begins as the heroine, Yingtai, escapes from her imprisonment in a home where she is not valued and disguises herself as a man, only to fall passionately in love with Shanbo, the poor young scholar she comes to live and study with while she is in disguise. Yingtai's family is not at war with Shanbo's; rather, it does not recognise its existence. Traversing class and gender expectations, Yingtai and Shanbo spiral toward the inevitable consequences of a life so much at odds with tradition.

Bazata pe povestea populara chineza „Liang Shanbo si Zhu Yingtai”, aceasta tragedie romantica infatiseaza „Romeo si Julieta” dintr-un unghi distinct chinezesc, cu cei doi iubiti incrucisati de stele care se confrunta cu obstacolul unei casatorii aranjate la clasa si cu ideea arhaica. ca „o femeie virtuoasa este una fara niciun talent”. Convergenta lor fatidica incepe in timp ce eroina, Yingtai, scapa din inchisoarea ei intr-o casa in care nu este apreciata si se deghizeaza in barbat, doar pentru a se indragosti pasional de Shanbo, bietul tanar carturar cu care vine sa traiasca si sa studieze in timp ce ea este deghizata.