River Phoenix’s Final Film, Dark Blood, Set for a North American Premiere

2013 Miami Film FestivalIt’s been 20 years since Dark Blood was shot and now the last film of actor River Phoenix will finally have a North American premiere. Phoenix was working on the film when he died (it had less than two weeks left to shoot) and director George Sluizer told The Hollywood Reporter back in October 2011 that it was finished and he hoped to have it released in 2012. It screened in 2012 at the Dutch Film Festival and will be getting its long-awaited North American premiere at the Miami International Film Festival. The festival, which runs March 1-10, 2013, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
 
Phoenix was 23 when he passed away in 1993 of a drug overdose.
 
According to the Miami Film Festival announcement, Dark Blood was just two days away from being destroyed in 1999 when Sluizer rescued the film. After ten years of just sitting in storage, Sluizer finished it up and now it’s ready for the festival circuit.
 
Dark Blood is a film of legend, one of Hollywood’s great mysteries,” stated MIFF Executive Director Jaie Laplante. “The tragic loss of River Phoenix’s outstanding talent is still profoundly felt 20 years later. We are proud that George Sluizer has honored Miami as the place to finally share his remarkable collaboration with Phoenix and the other great artists involved with Dark Blood.”
 
The Plot:
 
Jet-set Hollywood couple Harry (Jonathan Pryce) and Buffy (Judy Davis) travel through the desert on a second honeymoon, trying to save their marriage. Their car breaks down in the middle of nowhere leaving them to find shelter in Boy’s (Phoenix) beaten down shack, unaware they will become his prisoners. Boy’s wife died of leukemia after nuclear tests occurred in the desert leaving him alone and far away from society. Buffy is seduced by Boy’s honesty and vulnerabilities, while Harry represents everything Boy hates about the civilized world and its culture. Buffy decides to sleep with Boy to buy the couple’s freedom, but these circumstances will push Harry to the edge, leading to a terrible tragedy.
 
For more info on the 30th Miami International Film Festival, visit the festival’s official site.
 
Source: MIFF
 

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