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Perdita Durango is the most explosive cocktail of humour, sex, religion and action this side of Natural Born Killers. The two central characters are the unscrupulous Perdita Durango (Rosie Pérez), and handsome drug dealer/shaman, Romeo Dolorosa (Javier Bardem). After kidnapping an all-American couple, Perdita and Romeo take a trip through the wild side of the American dream, transporting a cargo of embryos from the Mexican border to Las Vegas. On the way, they cross paths with an assembly of federal agents, cops, crooks, prostitutes and desperate parents.
In the title role, Rosie Pérez (Do the Right Thing, Night on Earth) combines a ruthless code of ethics with heightened sexual charisma. Her on-screen counterpart, Bardem, embraces Spanish bravado and machismo to the hilt. Beneath the whip-crack dialogue and slick action, however, lies an interesting subtext concerning religion, destiny and social mores, rendering Perdita Durango a cinematic powderkeg.
"Perdita Durango is about the clash between two different ways of looking at life which are absolutely irreconcilable, but which are at their most tragic when they come together at the border. The Hispanics, forever tied to religion, passion and destiny, and the Americans, condemned to live a happy life, without problems, protected by their plastic armour and by television. It's also a story about love, betrayal and death, where the characters are aware of their own fate and learn to face up to it." - Alex de la Iglesia
Alex de la Iglesia was born in Bilbao in 1965. His first two features, Accion Mutante (1992) and El dia de la Bestia (1995), have received numerous Goya Awards (the Spanish Oscars) and other international film Awards.