TIFF 2010: THE BUTCHER, THE CHEF & THE SWORDSMAN Review

When a fat, vulgar and none-too-bright butcher glimpses the woman of his dreams, the lovely Mei who conjures visions of peach blossoms and naughty sex, there is nothing that is going to stop him from making her his own, or shouting about it at full volume.  She is queen and seemingly unreachable at the towns upscale brothel.  Mocked even by his own friend for his crass boldness, our Butcher is smitten to the point where class, looks, money, a full-blown rap number from the brothel matron are not deterrents. But then there is the vicious sword-wielding thug appropriately named "Big Beard" who seems invincible and intent on humiliating our 'hero' by carving a pig tattoo on his chest with rapid flicks of his blade. But luck favours the plump blow-hard in the form of a vengeful chef who wanders in town with an invincible cleaver forged from the melted down iron of the greatest weapons on the planet.

Mainland China's Wuershan drops his feature debut on the North American soil already with distribution and Doug Liman executing producing. Foreign comedies and wuxia films (and especially a mixture of the two) without the arty touches of Zhang Yimou or Ang Lee do not typically attract attention of studio distribution, but it is obvious why this one has people excited. The broad slapstick, contemporary soundtrack and ambitious structure are simply a blast of fun. I'm trying to avoid food metaphors here, but it is difficult with so much culinary creativity on display. Like any big meal, it is a combination of the quality of all of the ingredients and the ability of the chef to surprise the patron. So when The Butcher, The Chef & The Swordsman takes on the structure of Wojciech Has's The Saragossa Manuscript, that is the story is told by tales within tales. It is a delight. There is such variety in visuals style which complements the hearty selection of gags, zodiac mythology and narrative trickery. If the film is showing off, well, that is kind of the point here. Split screens, animation, 8mm film-stock and partially black & white photography keep things exciting and vibrant as the narrative tumbles and rolls with viewer expectations and marvelous comedy set-pieces. One of those Chinese CGI news recreations makes a surprising and hilarious appearance in the film during a key moment. The film may borrow liberally from Stephen Chow, there are many direct lifts of story points from Pixar's Ratatouille, and a cock-fight-gone-wrong which recalls the opening sequence of City of God, but these things are so easily forgivable for how much (and how clearly) Wuershan can squeeze so much in to 95 minutes. It is a delicate thing to take nothing seriously but still add a air of gravitas to each of the original stories. Echoes of many of the best Shaw Brothers productions, even if this film does not in any way resemble those kung fu efforts or that The Butcher, The Chef & The Swordsman was almost titled, "Leave it To Cleaver." It captures to tone equally well as the more epic release title.

The best performance in the film is actually not from any of the titular characters, but rather a short Yoda-like master-chef who is fast enough with his blade to make origami art out of of a cucumber with rapid chopping. He dispenses bon-mots along the line of "Be pragmatic as a cook and a Man," in the middle of himself showing off like a circus performer. Twitch Team-mate Peter Kuplowsky who happened to be sitting beside me suggested that this actor and equally short Chinese character actor Teddy Robin have to team up for a buddy cop period piece. The master's signature, legendary eight course dinner jumps off the screen with the best of foodie-movies in bright and tasteful colour and entrée names that have the ring of poetry.  The smörgåsbord culminates with a fish soup that involves carving and cooking the fish so delicately and rapidly that it does not even know it is dead. The fish continues swimming even as the diner consumes the broth. This dinner is challenged in the story of the chef wherein a grotesquely fat Eunuch is coming to the restaurant to partake of the famous Eight Courses. Since the Eunuch has a tendency of killing the chefs of the establishments he dines in, the master picks a pupil to pass his knowledge onto, but before first telling his mute pupil of how his cleaver came about. Thus the film swirls deeper in its own mythology while inviting you to drop down the rabbit hole and enjoy the mad tea party. The food is sublime, I cannot wait for the next 'dish' from Wuershan or for North America to get a taste of this one.