Butler's Cinema Scene

“ERASING DAVID” (Available June 28)

In this hugely thought-provoking doc from Britain, filmmaker David Bond kisses his child and pregnant wife goodbye and attempts to disappear.

His goal: to elude for one full month a pair of  professional investigators  he’s hired to track him down.

For anyone who has ever though it might be cool to simply pack it all in and live off the information grid, “Erasing David” will be a sobering reality check.

Our guy isn’t stupid. He doesn’t use credit cards. He turns off his cell phone. He crosses the Channel and travels around Europe, using public transportation and paying for everything with cash. At one point he lives in an abandoned house on the edge of a Scottish wood. He also walks a lot.

The resulting film approaches Bond’s challenge from two perspectives. First there’s the “fugitive” himself — talking into his camera, expressing his growing paranoia, his separation anxiety and his guilt over not being able to go home when he learns his child has a strep infection.

The other half of the picture is about the two investigators, nice enough guys (there’s nothing overtly scary about them) who turn onto the information highway and cruise around looking for clues. To get closer to their quarry they lie, misrepresent themselves, try to hack into Bond’s home computer and go through the trash outside his flat.

Filmmaker David Bond...on the run

All this is interspersed with talking-head interviews with authorities on privacy issues.

How long does Bond manage to stay a free man?  Longer than most of the experts predicted, but not nearly long enough to elude the P.I.s for an entire month.

Among the extras on this disc are several of Bond’s short films and a neat discussion with security and privacy experts.

But the  big payoff of “Erasing David” will be the post-viewing discussions sure to engulf your household.

Remember, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to purchase an industrial-strength shredder.

| Robert W. Butler