Theatre review: The Man Who Fed Butterflies

Published on Monday 30 August 2010 13:48

Striking yet chaotic blend of mysticism and imagination

THE MAN WHO FED BUTTERFLIES

KING'S THEATRE, EDINBURGH

***

the driving force behind The Man Who Fed Butterflies- the second of the two shows presented at the King's this week by Juan Carlos Zagal's extraordinary Teatro Cinema of Chile - is that at the moment of death we are somehow more alive and able to resolve our lives than at any other time. It has to be said that this second show in Zagal's planned trilogy of cinema-theatre does not match the intensity of the first, Sin Sangre. Its story is less focused, less politically charged, and more cumbersomely playful. The filmic style it references has more to do with sentimental magic realism, and the kitsch battle scenes of computer-generated fantasy fiction, than with the classic elegance of film noir; its plot contains at least four slightly chaotic strands, including an irritatingly self-referential one about a film-maker trying to make an epic fantasy movie.

Yet still, Zagal's strange, poignant mixture of film imagery and live action exerts a strong pull on the imagination, as he explores the story of an old man in Santiago who believes he is the last link to an ancient people who, by feeding butterflies, forged a connection with the most powerful life-forces in the universe. There's also the story of the film-maker and his ex-girlfriend, who has lain in a coma for eight years after being shot during a student demonstration, and of a medieval knight and his lady, commemorated in a statue in the city. And in the end, they all combine in a memorable rush of filmic mysticism; with the hint of a miracle for the living, as the old man finds his death, at last.