Director Robert Ellis Miller gets us running right out of the gate; running into confusion and aggravation. But it's all with a devious purpose. Using clever time-shifts that are a little tricky to catch, and implication rather than exposition, (poison to today's crippled minds) we're made to assemble the set up ourselves. Eventually arriving at the conclusion that we're watching cousins grow up amidst tragedy, we ultimately find them gallivanting around Great Britain and Europe, looking for love. France (Hywell Bennett looking like he was carved from a block of hipster plasticene) seems more concerned about finding a lover for his cousin Margaret (the fragilely luminous Jane Asher) than for himself. But he does, flagging down Swedish bohunk Fred (Sven-Bertil Taube) for Margaret before winding up in the arms of free-spirited Manny (Leigh Taylor-Young) himself.

The foursome becomes an insoluble unit, living an uneasy free-love idyll in Spain. The guys treat their girls with a heavy dose of patronizing paternalism, while the girls just want what they want. So far, so ho-hum; early bouts of boho fantasia are punctuated by cringe-inducing saccharine sexuality and humor, as if some supremely uptight Briton were trying to 'get hip' with the kids. Yet gradually the film overwhelms you with gorgeous photography, maudlin yet solid performances and rising heat. And then things get weird, and weirder, portentous and bizarre before cracking completely.

If these twists and turns - sudden marriages and much more - were played even closely to their demented soap opera origins, the movie would be an aggravating sham, yet the leads dig into their roles with such serious intent you find yourself convinced it's all real - even as your jaw drops. A tiny dollop of nudity is included, paying lip service to the beauty of the two female leads while calling distracted horn-dogs back to attention. Meanwhile Douglas Slocombe's cinematography does everything to convince you of the seriousness of this project. His rapturous photography works as a sun-soaked travelogue of Spain, (primarily) creating an aesthetically pleasing experience that reminds us what movies are about.

But did I mention that things get weird? There's a twist that you'll see coming from the first five minutes in. Miller wants you to see the twist coming, he leaves you misguidedly begging for it, and then he throws the movie into a blender filled with cocaine. In a manner of speaking. The climactic scene takes place in a proto-disco, with flashing colored lights, tumultuous music, potent photography and a weird dude looking like a fly, dancing like a fly, seducing Margaret like some otherworldly disco-fly. The denouement, meant to be shattering, is just a little sad, if not dead serious. However, you'll be immediately ready to make another chain.

The DVD

Video:
The 2.35:1 widescreen presentation sports a great transfer, which does real justice to the gorgeous photography. Compression artifacts are a non-issue, colors are rich, natural looking and saturated nicely, and film-damage is hardly seen. If the movie's more of a curiosity than a classic, and extras slim-to-none, at least the movie looks fantastic.

Sound:
Dolby Digital Stereo Audio is decent, though it seemed to me to be a bit too heavily weighted in upper frequencies, creating a sometimes-shrill tone. Music and dialog are mixed appropriately, and source audio is distortion-free.

Extras:
Extras are limited to Closed Captioning, English Subtitles, the Original Theatrical Trailer and a Martini Recipe printed on the CD itself, which comes in a standard keepcase.

Final Thoughts:
The Buttercup Chain is a soap opera melodrama of misleading proportions. Stolid and proper by today's standards, this late, bitter look at the free love '60s makes a lot out of its parts. Compelling performances squeeze pathos and ennui from comical outrages, and cinematography makes it a joy to watch. As weirdness piles on weirdness, you'll either slap your forehead in disbelief, or start lapping it up - maybe both. For these reasons, this essentially bare bones disc is Recommended for connoisseurs of the outré.

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