A Terry Gilliam film based on the book by Hunter S Thompson
Raoul Duke - Johnny Depp
Dr Gonzo - Benicio Del Toro |
Do you remember the wonderfully crazy and irreverent "Monty Python's Flying Circus"? And what about the various Monty Python films such as "The Search for the Holy Grail" and "Life of Brian"? One of the addled brains behind these blackest of black comedies was and is Terry Gilliam, cartoonist, scriptwriter, actor and director.
Gilliam has applied his wicked sense of humour and amazing visual talents to a screen adaptation of Hunter S Thompson's classic of gonzo journalism, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", first published in the fourth anniversary issue of "Rolling Stone".
The year is 1971 and Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp) and his overweight Samoan attorney, Dr Gonzo (Benicio del Toro), are heading for Vegas, ostensibly to cover the Mint 400 motorbike race. The two are high on drugs, roaring along the desert highway in their red convertible complete with a bootful of various exotic concoctions, anything from marijuana to ether.
The two meet a host of weird and wonderful characters along their way and see more of Las Vegas than they do of the race, albeit through a haze of drugs.
Johnny Depp is impressive as Duke, the Thompson alter ego and narrator of their adventures. He is suitably manic and demonstrates a wonderful facility for physical comedy. Watch out for the scene where, high on ether, he and Gonzo desperately try to control their wayward limbs and get themselves inside the Bazooko Circus Hotel and Casino. This latter is an amazing creation which is best described, in the words of production designer Alex McDowell, as "Alice in Wonderland meets Dante's Inferno", in fact this is an apt description of the film as a whole.
For once special effects are integral to the narrative, not just an excuse to display digital wizardry. There's a wonderful scene where the patrons of a Vegas bar literally turn into lounge lizards before Duke's bewildered eyes and another where the psychedelic floor covering comes alive. Similarly the set design and the camera work all combine to draw the audience into the drug induced trip of Duke and Gonzo.
"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" takes you on a psychedelic trip through the 1970s, offering moments of laughter, of black horror, and of bitter satire. And then there' s the music, everything from "My Favourite Things" to "Jumpin' Jack Flash".
|
