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.

Michelle Levine Psychological thriller, art film and well acted with a strong American Indian theme, amid stunning cinematography (though obviously NOT the Arizona desert) - this flick is a rescued treasure and would be a gem in its own right, even had beloved River lived to complete the very few missing scenes. Dark Blood's message: 'Humanity is poisoning the earth and early colonizers were no worse than modern European Americans and other trespassers. Disrespectful to the land, as to its rightful stewards. You know nothing about this land and nothing about us. Just go. Could learning respect have been an option? Sure. Right up until the point where you killed EVERYTHING.' Wow. *and then the parallel stories with the nuclear fallout and real-life actions* This is a very strong message the writer and director are passing on, while educating us about Anasazi ruins and the struggle of a mixed blood off the reservation in a multitude of ways. Viewing the ruins first as tourists, Harry and Buffy read about the ancient peaceful people who use to live here. They return to the site later as refugees; at this point,Harry passes a sign that says WHITE MAN, THIS LAND IS POISONED BY YOU. CURSED BY US.Buffy passes a sign that says DEATH DO NOT ENTER HEREI loved the soundtrack, but it was a big miss to not include Robbie Robertson's "Ghost Dance" in it. A future edit should obviously include that song and Jonathan Pryce dubbing over George Suizer's narration, slightly edited, so the script of it sounds like one of the actors, merely adding in his own thoughts.Suizer and Jim Barton make a direct point to the audience (clearly one Phoenix approved). These writers probably knew something you don't: how many tribes exist in North America today? Don't know that? I recommend starting with The American Indians, by Edward H. Spicer. It is good to know about the past of the land we are living on, as well as the present. I am impressed with the current generation Germans wishing to understand and pay atonement for a genocide they personally had nothing to do with - makes me forgive them, as a Jew. I pray that, one day, my fellow Americans will be as humble, and learn more about American Indians, past and present.

kosmasp ... still very compelling. And a showcase of why River Phoenix was considered one the best amongst his peers. I hadn't read or heard too much about the troubled production of the movie. But I did talk to a few people and the magazine of the Berlin International Festival did have a few things to say about it too. But at the beginning of the movie you will get an introduction from the director explaining the situation and telling you, what you are about to see. And the fact, that there will be quite some amount of voice over.While the voice over (telling us what would happen if the scenes were shot) is good, it never can fully compensate the impact moving pictures would have had. And it still is compelling, which all boils down to the performances of the actors involved. It's great they actually finished the movie and showed it. While not a masterpiece (couldn't be expected), it is there for people to see and enjoy.

Tryavna American film history is littered with compromised films by major directors. Von Stroheim's "Greed," Welles' "Magnificent Ambersons," Huston's "Red Badge of Courage," and Peckinpah's "Major Dundee" spring immediately to mind. I'm not sure that George Sluizer belongs among that exalted company -- though his original version of "The Vanishing" is definitely a masterpiece of some kind -- but "Dark Blood" is similar to those other films in that its beauty and emotional power still shine through despite its being compromised by external factors. In this case, instead of facing studio interference, "Dark Blood" was struck by the death of one its three principles, River Phoenix. According to Sluizer, who attended its U.S. premiere at the Miami Film Festival, all location shooting had been completed, and roughly 70-75% of the script had been filmed. Nevertheless, as Sluizer puts it in his opening narration, "Dark Blood" remains a three-legged chair: able to stand upright on its own, but obviously incomplete. I don't want to give too much of the plot away. As anyone who has experienced the original "Vanishing" knows, the less you know about a Sluizer film going in, the better off you are. However, it is clear that Phoenix's sudden death left gaping holes in the narrative. Sluizer has attempted to fill these holes with voice-over narration, and it works surprisingly well. As Sluizer put it in the Q&A following the screening, however, there is still a slight imbalance in the relationships among the three leads. In my opinion, this imbalance is most notable in the relationship between Boy (Phoenix) and Buffy (Judy Davis). Crucially, Buffy and, by extension, the audience is meant to be simultaneously unsettled and attracted by Boy's strangeness. Unfortunately, several key scenes between these two characters were left incomplete, so Boy's vulnerability does not come through as clearly as it should. To my mind, he doesn't always come across as sympathetically as he should.The three lead performances are all very strong, and I found the ending particularly powerful. Sluizer wisely avoids making the ending either pat or pointlessly ironic; it emerges logically from what comes before. Of course, it's possible that some the ending's power comes by way of hindsight. Like the other compromised films I mentioned above, "Dark Blood" is practically impossible to evaluate purely on its own terms. Viewers will probably always be aware of its complicated and tragic history. Still, the film rests on the three main characters and their interactions with one another, and at this level, "Dark Blood" is always tense and human. That's why the ending pays off so much for me.So by all means, seek this film out if you get the chance. Its recent "completion" by Sluizer was obviously a labor of love. "Dark Blood" probably won't replace "The Vanishing" in anyone's mind as the most important part of Sluizer's legacy, but it's a worthy addition to his filmography -- as well as to River Phoenix's. I just hope that whatever is preventing this film from being more widely released can be resolved. "Dark Blood" deserves to be seen.