Sarah Rio Judy Davis was horrible to River and made his life hell on set. He took the drugs that night to try to forget how awful he felt after enduring her abhorrent behaviour. Even the director couldn't stand her and how she was treating River. If she has a conscience (which I highly doubt) then she shouldn't be able to live with herself. Here she is continuing to work, meanwhile, an incredible actor and person is long dead. It's just not right.

ricardopthomaz What a movie I just saw!! Seriously, it's just an amazing and hypnotic experience! This movie was shot in 1993, mind you! All you see on screen was shot in that year. You can notice that Jonathan Pryce's hair is less gray than it really is today. Also, you got in the movie the strong and mesmerizing presence of the late River Phoenix, coming in a time capsule directly to the future to give us his mesmerizing swan song. Wow... freakin' wow!Great acting, a script that shines and beautiful backgrounds are the main attractions here. The story is told in the form of a road movie and the characters all goes through changes in their lives. The most powerful thing in the movie is its heart and soul. This is the engine that moves the narrative. As for it's body, it's unfortunately broken, for the lack of a better comparison. As the director George Sluizer states before the movie starts, this movie will always be like a three feet chair. It's slightly unbalanced, it misses something but with care, still stands on it's feet. With River Phoenix's death before the shooting process finishes, the director summarizes the missing fragments of the movie to us in order to complete the narrative. It works fine that way. In spirit, in heart and soul, this movie deserves a straight 10/10. With its broken, unfinished body, it takes a 8/10. If only they could finish it in time... but that from now on, until the end of times will only belong to our imagination, trying to figure out what it could have been. For what it is, it perfectly stands on it's feet. Must watch! Once again, thanks to the "37º Festival International de Cinema de São Paulo" in my city by the SESC institution of culture and development, I could enjoy another amazing flick!

RNQ Scenes are well made, the desert looks great, characters peer at the horizon well in the tradition of westerns, there are set designer extravaganzas. The story doesn't suffer from missing scenes; that speeds it up. What the story does suffer from is a disconnect of its elements. Buffy and Harry are a splendidly unlikeable squabbling city couple, actors to boot, stranded in the desert, which sets them up for a story in which they are humbled in the presence of some grounding element (the way Katharine Hepburn succumbs to Humphrey Bogart). That should be the solitary personage designated simply, condescendingly "Boy." But the couple doesn't let go into Boy's world. They fail to see that Boy's life and his environment have been damaged irreparably by nuclear testing; they fail to be grateful for Boy's kindness. In other words, they fail to see what a complex and powerful character River Phoenix is playing. If the viewer does, Buffy and Harry should, or they are hopelessly, tragically disconnected. Boy, look out for the culture these people come from, who aren't being shown much of your culture.

streamofstars "Doesn't it get lonely?", Harry asks Boy, looking out over the wide, barren desert. "Everywhere is lonely. America is full of loud mouths always shouting and trying to get themselves heard", Boy replies.I had mixed feelings after watching Dark Blood. Finally being able to see it after all these years, it was almost as if if was just one of those films I never got around to seeing. I was only 13 at the time of River Phoenix's death, which greatly affected me. I was always intrigued as to when or even if Phoenix's final film would ever see the light of day. (The film was nearly finished shooting at the time of his death.) So when I heard that director George Sluizer was going to finish the film, I was excited but also a bit hesitant.The film opens with Boy (River Phoenix) and his dog howling at the moon. We are then introduced to Buffy and Harry (Judy Davis and Jonathan Pryce) a troubled married couple from Hollywood, who are travelling through the Utah desert. Their car breaks down not once, but twice. The second time it breaks down, they are left stranded in the middle of nowhere. When night comes, after seeing a light in the distance, Buffy goes looking for help, and stumbles upon Boy's shack. We find out that he is living in an area that was once a nuclear testing site. Besides his shack, he has also created a secret mystical cave full of survival items and the 'magical' Kachina dolls he makes.Buffy's attraction to Boy is obvious from the start. She is intrigued by and attracted to him, meanwhile Harry is becoming more and more annoyed with the situation as time goes by. When the time comes for Buffy and Harry to leave, Boy won't let them. I won't give anything else away, but it is quietly captivating and tense.Of course the big question is what happens when you are missing pieces of the puzzle, so to speak? The scenes that were never to be filmed, are now just still shots, (except for maybe one or two), with a voice-over narration by the director. It is done nicely, but I feel it would've been more effective to have moving footage of the desert instead. With these few key scenes missing, most notably between Buffy and Boy, it does slightly take away from the overall feel of the film. Still, what George Sluizer has done is impressive and ultimately special.The acting from the three leads is excellent. River Phoenix is superb. He plays Boy with a fine balance between complicated and strange. You don't know what he is going to do next. Judy Davis is terrific as the laid back and trusting Buffy. Jonathan Pryce is wonderful as the wary and uptight Harry. The chemistry between Davis and Pryce is lovely. The tension between Harry and Boy is fascinating, as seen when Boy leaves Harry alone in the middle of a canyon.The cinematography by Edward Lachman is simply gorgeous. The desolate landscape is both stunning and eerie. A fitting backdrop for the heated relationships and circumstances. The hypnotic score by Florencia Di Concilio is beautiful.It won't be a film for everyone, but if you're a fan of Sluizer's work or any of the cast, then I hope you get the chance to see it. River Phoenix was in a class of his own. He had such a strong screen presence, it was a pleasure to finally see his final film. I want to commend George Sluizer for finishing the film.