Tsui Hark (Hak Chui / Ke Xu) was born in Vietnam in 1951. After moving to Hong Kong he spent a number of years in Canada and the USA (rather like Ringo Lam) before returning to Hong Kong in 1977. Two years later his debut film "The Butterfly Murders" ('Die Bian' 1979) launched a career that would see him labelled as the 'Hong Kong Spielberg'.  He innovated a new style for a new decade, he brought rhythmic, fast editing, special effects to rival Hollywood, revived the flagging traditional swordplay genre and was the producer behind some of the most notable and influential films of the eighties (particularly the genre shaping "A Better Tomorrow" (1986) a film for which he would helm the second sequel in a swap the producer/director moment). Like Spielberg he has his own film company - "Film Workshop" - which gives him a tight reign on his productions, like Spielberg his films evoke an other worldliness and a sense of romanticised past, a yearning for simpler days and classic Hollywood mould antiheroes (with an ever present narrator to accentuate a literary dimension), he also exhibits Spielberg's sadism and love of the loner. Where he differs, is that Hark is constantly creating, his career has shown more ups and downs than virtually any other film maker and this is reflected in the sheer bulk of his output and variety thereof. Many of his films have lacked the box office return they should have rightly expected, but the strains of the market have forced him to continue driving forward, he is not in the position to rest on his laurels and come up with crud like "The Lost World" . Even the phenomenally successful "Aces Go Places" films have to evolve if they are to survive, Hong Kong may seem to produce more than its quota of sequels but they do so only if the demand is maintained. In the UK we are unfortunately only able to get a small slice of the pie that is Tsui Hark; it may seem strange that even now "The Butterfly Murders", "Zu: Warriors From The Magic Mountain" ('Shu Shan' 1983) and the entire of the "Once Upon A Time In China" series are not available on video, but they are essentially chinese films and despite their merits do not have the commercial clout of a heroic bloodshed flick (hence "A Better Tomorrow III" ('Yinghung bunsik III' 1989) is available) and so we are denied some of the most successful films made. In the current clime it seems unlikely that Harks exploitation classic "We Are Going To Eat You" ('Diyu Wu Men' 1980 aka "Kung Fu Cannibals" aka "Hell Has No Gates") is ever going to see the light of day in any acceptable form so it looks like an expensive trip to the importers...

Tsui Hark's debut "The Butterfly Murders" is a fast paced murder-thriller- swordplay-whodunnit set in the Martial World and partly narrated by diarist and poet Fong Hongye (Siu Ming Lau). Following thirty years of the Quiet Era (previous Not So Quiet Eras throwing up the requisite centuries of bloodshed and turmoil) we approach the New Era, our hero, free of the need to be adept in the martial arts, is a chronologist of some renown, his historic essays good enough to warrant imitators. The film opens in the 24th year of the New Era, the 72 Trails of Smoke defining its birth and continuation. The 10 Coloured Flag Sections of the 72 Trails are deep in war, their leader  Tian Feng (Shutang Huang) gives the group its more familiar title The Tien Clan. For our convenience each of the clan members are thoughtfully colour coded. This motley crew are summoned to Castle Shen to investigate the mysterious goings on and the disappearance of of it's populous, events that may be connected to the murder of a local printer and the eight missing pages of Fongs diaries, pages that may or may not be genuine. Events appear to be connected to the brutal murder by butterflies of the previous Lord Shen on the fifth day of the fifth month ten years previously. Our band includes the dextrous wire flyer Green Shadow (Michelle Mee) who indulges in all manner of impressive aerial shenanigans including a stunning duel above the castle,  and the other flag leaders of the third and fifth (red and white) divisions. On arrival at Castle Shen they find the place deserted, all bar the body of their scout, a renowned martial artist, savaged by butterflies. Closer examination reveals a secret underground dwelling where Lord and Lady Shen (Qiqi Chen) live in fear with their mute servant girl Chee. The plot thickens (considerably, several minor plot strands have already been omitted here to protect the sane...) when Lord Shen is savaged to death by carnivorous butterflies and his subsequent will reading results in the summoning of the Three Thunders. Two arrive, Li, 'The Thousand Hands' (Jiang Wang) and the legendary, nay incendiary Guo, 'The Magic Fire'  (Xiong Gao) who leaves a trail of smouldering corpses in his wake (presumably tracking the guy down is not that difficult, just follow the charcoal). Just when you are wondering what the hell is going on the plot then decides to get more convoluted. All hell breaks loose, but fear not all is eventually revealed and resolved. And then some.

"The Butterfly Murders" introduces many themes and plot devices that crop up later in Tsui Harks career. The use of editing is at once disorientating and breathtaking, he chooses to cut swiftly from extreme low angles to high and then to close-ups, constantly keeping the viewer off-guard in a style reminiscent of early Goddard. The 360 degree rule is violated to maintain unease, the ferocity and pace of the action is held together by the impression as opposed to the quality of the actors fighting skills. This sleight-of-hand approach produces the effect of far more money being spent than is actually the case. Tsui would return to these techniques in the huge budget "Zu". Here these skills, linked with the "da-daaa" musical accentuation of key revelations give a bizarre hybrid feel of high octane film noir meeting "The Water Margin". Other trends are also apparent, the convoluted story line is remarkably straight forward in it's drive but it is driven to an insane labyrinth of cross plots, groups, people, mysteries, historic events and mythologising; the meeting of opposing warriors bought together because of raw confusion, the number of tribes, clans and armies all fighting one another and the blanket acceptance of myth as fact. Here, however lies the difference, "Zu" accepts and embraces magical concepts as matter-of-fact, "The Butterfly Murders" explains the inexplicable in a preposterous and yet wholly  believable manner, the only time we view diegetically impossible events is in explanatory scenes embellished by the teller, myth it seems, is a hairs breadth from reality.

Jinyu Fan provides an astonishing range of camera lighting techniques to the project. Whether the view is of the chinese landscape ( very much "Water Margin" territory here) or the claustrophobic and stylistically lit cave sequences the camera is always just short of where we want it to be. This places the viewer oblique to the action, we are never to trust what we see. When the call is given to cover the castle in netting (hence avoiding further attacks) the temptation is too great, we get beautiful shots of traditional, mainland, photography, all diffused and heavily contrasted. Silhouettes play against sheets, colours bleed in the flickering torch light, tension is framed as a painting. Indeed the use of colour throughout is exemplary, the colour coding of the main clans provides much visual reference, the shots of (what appear to be cabbage white...) butterflies darting in the blue skies and the cavernous extreme colour saturation punctuate the understanding of the film. The butterflies lurk in silhouette, menacing and silent against the muslin, in a form very reminiscent of Hitchcock's "The Birds".  When Lady Shen is attacked by butterflies she is embroidering representations of her assailants, blood from her head provides the colour on her work pre-empting the shot of gore drenched butterflies feeding on a corpse.

Indeed, despite its heavy plotting it should be pointed out that this is an exceptionally violent film. The butterflies themselves are not afraid of the sight of blood and appear to be a cross match of Dantes Pirannahs and Irwin Allens "The Swarm". Such a bizarre concept would be unlikely to get past the drawing board on any western production but here it is embraced wholeheartedly and despite all odds it works, and far more successfully than "Pirahnas II: The Flying Killers" (thanks very much James Cameron) at that. You'll believe a butterfly can kill. And you'll believe many other things can kill too. Gruesomely. As there are no spoilers here I won't reveal all, but something jolly unpleasant is going on...

A relentless assault on the senses and enough plot to last a years worth of soap opera endears the film to all but the most callous viewer. It's complexity in both structure and cinematic language make it a film to revisit and enjoy. With the most bizarre premise ever, breathtaking action and the audacity that normally accompanies debut features you are guaranteed a solid 88 minutes of entertainment. Highly recommended.