Perdita Durango (1997)

Director:

Álex de la Iglesia

Writers (WGA):

Barry Gifford (novel)
Barry Gifford (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

31 October 1997 (Spain)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Get On The Road

Plot:

A psychotic criminal couple kidnaps a random teenage couple. The woman rapes the male captive, and lets him watch his lover being raped by the man. They then plan to sacrifice the couple.

Plot Keywords:

Sacrifice | Rape | Buxom | Santería | Witch Doctor

Awards:

6 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Rosie Perez	...	Perdita Durango
Javier Bardem	...	Romeo Dolorosa
Harley Cross	...	Duane
Aimee Graham	...	Estelle
James Gandolfini	...	Willie 'Woody' Dumas
Screamin' Jay Hawkins	...	Adolfo
Demián Bichir	...	Catalina
Carlos Bardem	...	Reggie San Pedro
Santiago Segura	...	Shorty Dee
Harry Porter	...	Ford
Carlos Arau	...	Phillips
Don Stroud	...	Santos
Alex Cox	...	Doyle
Miguel Galván	...	Doug
Regina Orozco	...	Lilly

Also Known As:

Dance with the Devil (USA) (video title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence including rape, sexuality, language and some drug content.

Runtime:

126 min | Australia:125 min | USA:115 min (R-rated version) | USA:121 min (unrated version) | South Korea:95 min | Hong Kong:118 min | Germany:125 min (DVD version)

Country:

Mexico | USA | Spain

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | Finland:K-16 (cut) | Iceland:16 | UK:18 (cut) (original rating) | UK:18 (2006 re-rating) | Australia:MA (cable rating) (cut) | Australia:R (cut) | USA:R (cut) | Spain:18 | Argentina:18 | France:-16 | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:(Banned) | Netherlands:16 (video premiere) | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/18 | Singapore:R(A) | South Korea:(Banned) (original rating) | South Korea:18 (re-rating)

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Company:

Canal+ España

Trivia:

'J.J. Bigas Luna' was first slated to direct the film

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Shadow of the dolly and cameraman during the scene in the airplane junkyard.

Quotes:

Romeo Dolorosa: Well, the truth is, I'm a scientist.
Perdita Durango: A scientist? No, you're definitely a dentist. I could tell from the stupid smile on your face.

Movie Connections:

References Batman (1989)

Soundtrack:

Soul City

Excellent dark-satire, violent-rom-com rampage

Following the success of El Dia De Bestia and Accion mutante, once again the director pursues the nature of dark obsession. The two main leads are dysfunctional amoral sadists who re in some ways rediscovering a part of them that they miss - love.

It's a story of trying to move on but the main characters are very amoral however there's darker circles than them, which pulls them further down the spiral. In essence this movie is an antithesis of a glamour Mafia movie and I believe represents Mafia dealings in a very dark fashion. In some ways I believe there's a nod to David Lynch with the actor playing the Mafia boss.

The film is not a sick puppy nor is it banal. For those that have followed this director they will read between the lines to discover some salient points of US government intervention out of the states and human traffic - in this case embryos used for beauty products. Like 'clean Madrid' in El Dia de Bestia there were fascist movements in the capital at the time. Iglaisia puts this on the screen as a cultural reminder.

Watching this movie at face value will seem very ultra violent and in some places extremely disturbing. Unlike other cult producers like Tarintino Iglasia uses a loot of cult cultural references to make his films extremely dark and funny (like La Communidad). If you're Latin or Spanish I feel there would be a lot more in this movie for you. Recommended viewing - but not for the faint hearted.