THE BUTCHER, THE CHEF AND THE SWORDSMAN (Wuershan). 95 minutes. Subtitled. Opens Friday (March 18). For venues and times, see listings. Rating: NN
The Butcher, The Chef And The Swordsman is so garish and overcooked, it’s impossible to digest – unless, of course, you’re in the hooting and hollering environment of TIFF’s Midnight Madness, where this movie premiered last year.
The antic tongue-in-cheek take on Chinese mythology intertwines the tales of a piggish-looking butcher who lusts after a high-priced call girl, a chef out to avenge the death of his family, and the power-hungry swordsman who got the whole ball rolling when he sought to obtain the finest black iron blade in Asia. All three are linked by a big, dirty cleaver that looks like something left behind by Jason from the Friday The 13th series.
Amidst all this you get a brothel full of rapping courtesans, a Jabba the Hut-like eunuch and countless animal fatalities. You may find yourself amused by the sheer nuttiness on display, but that’s only because your senses have been butchered by commercial director Wuershan’s tactics.
Making his feature debut, Wuershan goes manic with colour filters and choppy, sloppy editing, as if to disguise the fact that the story has little else going for it. His movie throws everything but the kitchen sink at the screen, just hoping some of it will stick.
