PERDITA DURANGO (1997)
(DANCE WITH THE DEVIL) (1997)
A Film Review
Copyright Dragan Antulov 2004
Of all European cinema industries Spanish gives impression of being
the most vital. This is could be explained with the most successful
Spanish filmmakers finding a balance between Hollywood-like
commercial content and European artistic sensibilities. Good example
is given by Alex de la Iglesia, Spanish filmmaker known for adopting
Hollywood exploitation film material and bringing to another level,
unrestrained by 1990s American censorship. In late 1990s de la Iglesia
felt comfortable enough to try outclassing Quentin Tarantino. Result
of his efforts is 1997 crime drama PERDITA DURANGO.
The plot is based on the novel by Barry Gifford, author who gave
basis for David Lynch's WILD AT HEART. Two films share one of
the protagonists - Perdita Durango, who briefly appeared in David
Lynch's version and was played by Isabella Rossellini. In this film she
is the heroine, played by Rosie Perez. She starts as a young woman
from US-Mexican border, traumatized in childhood with the murder
of sister and forced to earn her living through illegal activities. One
day she meets Romeo Dolorosa (played by Javier Bardem),
flamboyant bank robber and murderer who practices Santeria magic.
Romeo is so confident of the ancient gods' protection that he doesn't
care much about police. His confidence makes Perdita fall in love
with him and two of them become couple. On the other hand, Romeo
is less confident of his Santeria abilities when it comes to the debt
owed to powerful mobster. In order to pay it, he agrees to drive cargo
of human fetuses across the border for the powerful crime lord
Santos (played by Don Stroud). Before taking a job, Romeo and
Perdita decide to secure gods' favour with human sacrifice. The
candidates come in the form of Duane (played by Harley Cross) and
Estella (played by Aimee Graham), American teenage couple
vacationing in Mexico. Two youths are kidnapped and subjected to
all kinds of physical, psychological and sexual abuse. In the
meantime, US federal agent Willy "Woody" Dumas (played by James
Gandolfini) is on Romeo's trail.
Because of two protagonists being killers on the run (just like
NATURAL BORN KILLERS) and US-Mexican border setting (used in
FROM DUSK TILL DAWN) some critics saw PERDITA DURANGO
as nothing more than just another attempt to exploit Tarantino
phenomenon. De la Iglesia, however, draws his inspiration from
more sources - 1970s exploitation cinema and classic Hollywood
films featuring Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner. One thing, however,
sets PERDITA DURANGO apart from many other Tarantino knock-
offs. The directing style is more polished and the movie has more of
an epic atmosphere, partly due to the heavy use of flashbacks. De la
Iglesia directs the film confidently and it is seen at the end, when he
shows that these days directors can pay homage to classic films in
ways that are as effective as obvious. Another major difference is in
the "problematic" content being pushed to another level - humour is
much more sinister, violence is more graphic and sex more explicit. It
is, for example, really hard to imagine contemporary Hollywood film
featuring aborted human foetuses as commodity.
Another thing that sets PERDITA DURANGO apart is de la Iglesia's
depiction of cultural differences between people who inhabit two
sides of US-Mexican border. Perdita and Romeo's "joie d'vivre"
represents sharp contrast to the values and lifestyle of their WASP
victims. Of course, this conflict only spices the film because it, just
like anything else in the film, can't be taken seriously.
Quality of acting in the film is mostly good. Javier Bardem chews the
scenery, almost turning his portrayal of macho Latin lover into
parody. Rosie Perez, on the other hand, is at times too irritating to be
accepted as film's protagonist. Supporting actors are much better,
including Don Stroud and Heather Graham's sister Aimee in
thankless role of protagonists' captive.
PERDITA DURANGO is not one of those films that would enter
history books, but it entertains audience and shows that European
filmmakers are more than capable of beating even the hippest
Hollywood filmmakers at their own game.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
Review written on April 7th 2004
Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax
http://film.purger.com - Filmske recenzije na hrvatskom/Movie Reviews in
Croatian
http://www.ofcs.org - Online Films Critics Society
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