The Butcher, the Chef, and the Swordsman

As the title would suggest, "The Butcher, The Chef, and the Swordsman" is a film split into three overlapping segments detailing the plight of the three title characters — all of whom are integrally connected without even knowing it. The three stories in question are aptly entitled "Desire," "Vengeance" and "Greed." The butcher desires the love of a prostitute he's never met, the chef seeks vengeance for the death of his father, and the swordsman's greed is what eventually ties it all together. Unfortunately, you have to suffer a mini-seizure in order to sit through the whole thing.

That is to say, the film is like staring into a strobe light for 90 minutes. The constant editing exchanges and rapid cuts can only be described as dizzying. For a film that is shot entirely in Chinese, it sure does borrow heavily from loads of Americana. Although it presents itself as a quasi-martial arts movie, it is in fact more like a modern-day Western than anything else. Throw in a mishmash of hip hop-influenced rap battles, "Mortal Kombat" references,and cartoonish violence ... and you have one helluva muddled story. "The Butcher, The Chef, and the Swordsman" suffers from an identity crisis, and through its search to pin down a genre, it comes out lacking any sort of cohesiveness.

The beginning of the film gave me high hopes, and even about halfway through I was really enjoying myself, but toward the final act I had all but checked out mentally. There's only so much you can throw at a viewer before they lose all interest. Visually, it's a stunning piece of work, albeit tiresome at some parts. The cinematography is just amazing, and the fluidity of some of the sequences is truly impressive. Unfortunately, there just isn't enough good to outweigh the bad. It's a visual spectacle with little to no depth in terms of character development and storyline.

I admit, though, that the humor aspect was spot on at times. It's an offbeat comedy that relies on surprise gags nearly throughout. I found myself laughing out of sheer confusion more than anything else ... very similar to the anarchistic comedy stylings of the Marx Brothers. If only the film were able to stay focused long enough to ensure a solid-enough payoff at the end instead of constantly jumping back and forth between gags. Adding to the mysteriousness of the film are the barebones DVD extras, featuring only a trailer for the film. It's a bizarre venture into madness; more than likely you will find parts you like, but as a whole it's a pretty big letdown.

Film: 3 Yaps Extras: 1 Yap