Dance with the Devil (Perdita Durango) Reviews
Cassandra M
Super Reviewer
January 16, 2008
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.
Following the success of El Dia De Bestia and Acción 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.
DragonEyeMorrison
Super Reviewer
December 18, 2007
A flawed affair from Alex de la Iglesia that benefits from one thing: Javier Bardem playing a crazy ruthless mexican santero who rapes american teen girls and makes human sacrifices. Bardem owns the movie in every way.
deano
Super Reviewer
April 29, 2007
Awesome rated R action and hot sex scenes. Rosie Perez is bloody hot American-Purerto Rican actress in this dangerous hostage thriller film.
Wu C
Super Reviewer
February 6, 2013
I was curious to see this after recently seeing the director's 2010 film 'The Last Circus', which I loved. Unfortunately there's not much that I enjoyed about this one. I will seek out the director's other works though.
Christopher B
Super Reviewer
January 31, 2008
Boring. Went to see this because it was a follow up on one of the characters from Wild at Heart, but it couldn't be further in tone. Maybe I should see it again after viewing a lot more cult movies, but I remember sitting in my seat excited to see this, and by the middle being sunk into the chair waiting for it to end.
MovieGuruDude72
August 16, 2011
Javier Bardem is awesome as an evil SOB. Rosie Perez? I still can't get past that God-awful Cuban accent. It's worse than Ricky Ricardo's ever thought about being. This film had the potential to be very, very good but despite its great story and graphic violence and sex, manages to be nothing more than a vain attempt at a latino version of Natural Born Killers. Some steaminess and lots of gratuitous violence/gore but the film is so weak the violence only leaves you feeling indifferent. Never a good reaction to splatter.
RicardoCraneo
July 4, 2011
A wacky and slightly hilarious voodoo road movie which also functions as a character study I guess. Apparently it's based on Wild at Heart, a David Lynch movie which I thought flopped on all accounts. This is a better version even though it's overlong, restricted, and with some boring, cliched points for the genre. Also, there's an emphasis on ethnicities of characters and the Spanish-English language switching is unsubbed. The lead characters are unique and radiant, but their philosophies are cheaply presented. The director does action and violence remorselessly as in Accion Mutante, so I was expecting more of it in this film. Maybe the Americanization bogged it down.
welcometothesucks007
April 8, 2010
The film is the story of Perdita Durango (Rosie Perez), a young criminal who one night meets Romeo Dolorosa (Javier Bardem), a crazed priest of an extreme form of Santeria who makes a life doing jobs for the mob. They fall in love and Perdita comes along in Romeo's latest job: the traffic of human fetuses for the cosmetic industry. On their trip, they kidnap two American teenagers for Romeo's human sacrifices. However, things go wrong as a DEA agent (James Gandolfini) follows them closely and the kidnapped teens try to escape.
Based on Barry Gifford's novel of the same name, the movie follows the criminal couple's adventure in the style of a road trip movie with the two couples (the criminals and their victims) as main characters. I can't tell how faithful the movie is to the novel, but it is definitely closer to Gifford's previous film adaptation, David Lynch's "Wild at Heart" than to the Tarantino films that are often compared to it. The movie is charged with black humor and disturbing violence, and is a brilliant satire of modern society.
Alex De la Iglesia crafts a film that is at the same time disturbing and funny, and he plays with those two very different emotions with very good results. The pacing of the movie is very good although it is true that at times it feels a bit disjointed. Still, De la Iglesia manages to tell an intelligent and different story than what we are used to. On a side note, the edited A-Pix version is missing what is probably the most important moment of the film due to copyright troubles, so to fully appreciate the film, the 125 version is the way to go.
The acting is good for the most part, with Javier Bardem showing exactly why is he considered the best Spanish actor of his generation; his Romeo Delarosa is one of the best performances of his career. Rosie Perez is effective, but at times it feels as if she weren't up to the challenge, something that hurts the film badly, as she is the main character. Harley Cross and Aimee Graham are very believable as the kidnapped teens and show potential for comedy, but the real joy comes from supporting actors Gandolfini and a surprising Screamin' Jay Hawkins.
Personally, I liked the film a lot and it is a personal favorite, but I must be fair and point out that it is not a perfect film. Alex De la Iglesia's main mistake is to focus too much on Romeo Delarosa's character, almost to the point where Rosie Perez almost becomes a supporting actress. The fact that Bardem's acting is enormously superior doesn't really help Perez' performance, but she's hot as hell. On another point, the movie seems to lose steam at the last point, and while it does recover some of its initial power, the edited versions definitely take out this final improvement.
As written above, this is a personal favorite, and while I wouldn't recommend it to everybody (due to its disturbing images), I would definitely recommend it to fans of black comedies, disturbing thrillers and overall bizarre film-making in general
Right after the success of his masterpiece, the dark comedy "El Día De la Bestia", Spanish director Alex De la Iglesia took a stab at Hollywood with this wild ride of marvelous insanity and bizarre entertainment. Sadly, the resulting movie was severely cut in the U.S. and the U.K. and didn't had the expected results as many labeled as another Tarantino-style film. While at first sight "Perdita Durango" indeed looks like a rip off of the movies by the Tarantino-Rodriguez tandem, this really black comedy is more a witty satire than a serious action flick.
The film is the story of Perdita Durango (Rosie Perez), a young criminal who one night meets Romeo Dolorosa (Javier Bardem), a crazed priest of an extreme form of Santeria who makes a life doing jobs for the mob. They fall in love and Perdita comes along in Romeo's latest job: the traffic of human fetuses for the cosmetic industry. On their trip, they kidnap two American teenagers for Romeo's human sacrifices. However, things go wrong as a DEA agent (James Gandolfini) follows them closely and the kidnapped teens try to escape.
Based on Barry Gifford's novel of the same name, the movie follows the criminal couple's adventure in the style of a road trip movie with the two couples (the criminals and their victims) as main characters. I can't tell how faithful the movie is to the novel, but it is definitely closer to Gifford's previous film adaptation, David Lynch's "Wild at Heart" than to the Tarantino films that are often compared to it. The movie is charged with black humor and disturbing violence, and is a brilliant satire of modern society.
Alex De la Iglesia crafts a film that is at the same time disturbing and funny, and he plays with those two very different emotions with very good results. The pacing of the movie is very good although it is true that at times it feels a bit disjointed. Still, De la Iglesia manages to tell an intelligent and different story than what we are used to. On a side note, the edited A-Pix version is missing what is probably the most important moment of the film due to copyright troubles, so to fully appreciate the film, the 125 version is the way to go.
The acting is good for the most part, with Javier Bardem showing exactly why is he considered the best Spanish actor of his generation; his Romeo Delarosa is one of the best performances of his career. Rosie Perez is effective, but at times it feels as if she weren't up to the challenge, something that hurts the film badly, as she is the main character. Harley Cross and Aimee Graham are very believable as the kidnapped teens and show potential for comedy, but the real joy comes from supporting actors Gandolfini and a surprising Screamin' Jay Hawkins.
Personally, I liked the film a lot and it is a personal favorite, but I must be fair and point out that it is not a perfect film. Alex De la Iglesia's main mistake is to focus too much on Romeo Delarosa's character, almost to the point where Rosie Perez almost becomes a supporting actress. The fact that Bardem's acting is enormously superior doesn't really help Perez' performance, but she's hot as hell. On another point, the movie seems to lose steam at the last point, and while it does recover some of its initial power, the edited versions definitely take out this final improvement.
As written above, this is a personal favorite, and while I wouldn't recommend it to everybody (due to its disturbing images), I would definitely recommend it to fans of black comedies, disturbing thrillers and overall bizarre film-making in general
April 30, 2009
One of the funniest movies I have ever seen, but it's not a comedy. I was in NYC with some high school friends and this movie was on in the hotel. This was one weird movie and we were laughing so hard that security came to our room twice!
June 6, 2008
A fun road trip through the characters of Barry Gifford, whose title character (Perdita Durango) appeared in the earlier David Lynch film 'Wild at Heart.' This film seems to constantly skirt the edge of becoming an incoherent mess, but somehow manages to hold itself together. Certainly not without its flaws. James Gandolfini is good here, as always, in looks and performance.
April 1, 2013
espectacular! me encanto y me encanto, rosie perez y bardem se roban la película
derek j.
April 6, 2012
I can't believe this movie is rated so low. It may not be for everyone but if you like dark humor and are into gratuitous violence this movie rocks! It actually had a good story going for it. It wasn't exactly original but it had enough twists for the typical chase/fight the system movie to keep you interested. The twists were pretty wild too. I mean it had Santeria, frozen embryos, pedestrians flying through the air... it's just a crazy ride. Q. Tarantino wishes he had the cajones to make this movie.
EnglishCrumpet
January 31, 2011
Bardem plays Romeo Dolorosa, a psychotic witch doctor whose hobbies include theft, kidnapping, rape and murder. However a life of pillaging can be a lonely one, so thank goodness he meets beautiful Perdita Durango (Rosie Perez), and the pair become something of a sexually charged, Mexican Bonnie and Clyde. The movie sees them kidnap a pair of American teenagers whom they simultaneously rape, then plan to sacrifice to their religious cult.
This is exploitation cinema at its worst. Everything from the screenplay to the acting to the direction is utter garbage. Rosie Perez stumbles her way through the disastrous dialogue, while Bardem, for whom I have a huge amount of admiration and respect, fares little better. Their characters are so hideous that I was left with no desire to invest in either performance, and even if I'd wanted to they're both so overwrought it would have been a struggle.
Director Alex de la Iglesia does not help matters, opting for ridiculous explosions and increasingly more disturbing scenarios over any real character development or effective storytelling. Even unintentional laughs brought on by how over the top the whole thing is didn't make this movie one that I feel justifies the time I spent watching it, and for that reason I can only advise you to avoid it.
It's always sad when you visit the back catalogue of a favourite actor or actress and come across a truly painful movie from their early career. Well Javier Bardem you may be an enormously talented, Oscar winning actor, but Perdita Durango is one of the worst movies I have ever seen.
Bardem plays Romeo Dolorosa, a psychotic witch doctor whose hobbies include theft, kidnapping, rape and murder. However a life of pillaging can be a lonely one, so thank goodness he meets beautiful Perdita Durango (Rosie Perez), and the pair become something of a sexually charged, Mexican Bonnie and Clyde. The movie sees them kidnap a pair of American teenagers whom they simultaneously rape, then plan to sacrifice to their religious cult.
This is exploitation cinema at its worst. Everything from the screenplay to the acting to the direction is utter garbage. Rosie Perez stumbles her way through the disastrous dialogue, while Bardem, for whom I have a huge amount of admiration and respect, fares little better. Their characters are so hideous that I was left with no desire to invest in either performance, and even if I'd wanted to they're both so overwrought it would have been a struggle.
Director Alex de la Iglesia does not help matters, opting for ridiculous explosions and increasingly more disturbing scenarios over any real character development or effective storytelling. Even unintentional laughs brought on by how over the top the whole thing is didn't make this movie one that I feel justifies the time I spent watching it, and for that reason I can only advise you to avoid it.
David H.
August 24, 2010
Combine a Entertaining Road Movie with Heavy Violence, Santeria, Socio Critism and Mexican Style and you get a Hard-Boiled & Funny Action Movie with a Bombastic Soundtrack and Freaky Characters.
nru
February 28, 2004
[b][i][u]Throne of Blood:[/u][/i][/b] What can I say? Kurosawa is a master storyteller, and this is just another proof of it. Based in Shakespeare's MacBeth, dropped in the Samurai Japanese setting, the director mixes yet again Eastern and Western culture with perfect results and a movie that is accessible to virtually everyone. I wont go on and on about the great technical aspects, because it is already expected from Kurosawa, and he never fails to deliver. The acting is great, from both Mifune and Yamada who give chilling performances.
If you're appreciate movies, this is one you should not miss.
[b][i][u]Club Dread:[/u][/i][/b] There are more scares than laughs, but it is definetly worth it if you're a fan af Super Troopers. There are memorable characters and some genuine scares, surrounded by insanity and foolishness. Which is exactly its greatest problem. Either it takes itself too seriously, or it makes fun of itself way too much. ultimately, Ebert said it best, you saw the trailer and if you liked it you're gonna like the movie, if you hated it, well you're not gonna be surprised. Meanwhile I really had a good time watching it.
[b][u][i]Dance with the Devil:[/i][/u][/b] Unexpected fun. This is more of action/road movie ala From Dusk Till Dawn, but here there is no vampires or any horror element at all. Except maybe the gruesome deaths and plenty gore all throughout the movie. Cheese is exploited at the maximum in all aspects, from plenty of cliches to the acting, giving plenty of laughs both intentional and not. I'm not so sure if I would recommed it to everyone, but it worked for me and that's all that matters.
[b][i][u]Throne of Blood:[/u][/i][/b] What can I say? Kurosawa is a master storyteller, and this is just another proof of it. Based in Shakespeare's MacBeth, dropped in the Samurai Japanese setting, the director mixes yet again Eastern and Western culture with perfect results and a movie that is accessible to virtually everyone. I wont go on and on about the great technical aspects, because it is already expected from Kurosawa, and he never fails to deliver. The acting is great, from both Mifune and Yamada who give chilling performances.
If you're appreciate movies, this is one you should not miss.
[b][i][u]Club Dread:[/u][/i][/b] There are more scares than laughs, but it is definetly worth it if you're a fan af Super Troopers. There are memorable characters and some genuine scares, surrounded by insanity and foolishness. Which is exactly its greatest problem. Either it takes itself too seriously, or it makes fun of itself way too much. ultimately, Ebert said it best, you saw the trailer and if you liked it you're gonna like the movie, if you hated it, well you're not gonna be surprised. Meanwhile I really had a good time watching it.
