Just when you thought it was safe to go in the basement, those wonderful folks who brought you
"The Creature With The Nuclear Uvula" are now producing DESTRUDO!
Listen to what Vincent Canby of the N.Y.Times came back from the grave to say about DESTRUDO:
"This film was not released... it ESCAPED!"
You'll LAUGH!... you'll CRY... You'll kiss a half-hour of your life GOODBYE!
MORE ON THE SCRIPT AND STORY:
The screenplay is constructed using the The Hero's Journey as a template for how the story progresses from 1) The Call To Adventure 2) The Departure 3) Overcoming Tasks and Obstacles 4) Figurative or Literal Death 5) Personal Transformation and 6) The Return.
Traditional literary constructs are employed such as 1) Establish time and place 2) Introduce a complicating factor 3) Escalate tension and conflict 4) Reach a denouement in the story 5) Provide an obvious climax and 6) Supply a quick resolution.
Suffice to say, DESTRUDO is arty but not an art film. It's easy to follow, quickly engages the audience at the beginning with an outrageous situation facing the two women leads, provides many interesting characters along the way who propel the plot and act as foils.
The plot falls into the "Man Against Man" category where our hero is the left-brain/right-brain composite of the two women who each tend to be more left or right brained in their thinking. The villain is - first - the people they work for - and later - the people who work for them. The battles they fight are to resist the relentless forces that would cause us to compromise our ideals and corrupt our behaviors; you know, the stuff that happens to all of us as humans on the planet Earth.
There are many cultural references which locate the story in the 21st century and the overall attitude of the dialog is intended to appeal to a more intelligent audience - an audience that has lived many of the moments presented in their own lives - an audience which should be able to easily identify with our hero and will empathize with their dilemma(s) as well as appreciate their strength of character and (that wonderful word) pluck!.
BOTTOM LINE: Ultimately, our protagonists choose to repudiate the notion, "The Ends Justify The Means". This is the underlying admonition of the story. For the record, the phrase "Apres moi, le deluge" ("After me, the flood") is the slogan of the company they create and not anything to do with their own take on the rest of humanity. While we're on this philosophical track, Carl Sagan has some interesting things to say about "The Golden Rule"
SEE DESTRUDO and learn hidden secrets of the universe, such as:
- How To Speak 'Dog'
- Everything Men Know About Women
- Why you should care about apathy
- What do Ohm's Law and Sanitary Wipes have in common?
- How to work that great quote, "I am become death.." into a conversation
- What they don't tell you in the flak-o-pedias
If, by the time you get to this point and are not intrigued, you probably wouldn't enjoy it. If that's the case, thanks for stopping by - we like you anyway! If you're still reading - YEAA!
