#175: GILLIAM, Terry: Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas (1998)
GILLIAM, Terry (United States)
The Booklet
Twenty-eight page booklet featuring essays by J. Hoberman and two pieces by Thompson.
Hoberman:
Commentary
Look at the controversy
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas [1998]
Spine #175
DVD
DVD
It is 1971, and journalist Raoul Duke barrels towards Las Vegas to cover a motorcycle race, accompanied by a trunkful of contraband and his slightly unhinged Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo. But what is ostensibly a cut-and-dried journalistic endeavor quickly descends into a feverish psychedelic odyssey and an excoriating dissection of the American way of life. Director Terry Gilliam and an all-star cast (headlined by Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro) show no mercy in bringing Dr. Hunter S. Thompson's legendary Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas to the screen, creating a film both hilarious and savage.
119 minutes
Color
Color
Stereo
2:35:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2003
Director/Writers
Based on a book by Hunter S. Thompson.
Screenplay by Terry Gilliam, Tony Grisoni, Tod Davies and Alex Cox.
Gilliam was 58 when he directed Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Other Gilliam films in the Collection:
#903: Jabberwocky (1977)
#37: Time Bandits (1981)
#51: Brazil (1985)
Other Gilliam films in the Collection:
#903: Jabberwocky (1977)
#37: Time Bandits (1981)
#51: Brazil (1985)
”So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark — that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”
No matter what opinion you might hold regarding this crazy film, this single sentence from Thompson — which Johnny Depp (Thompson) narrates — is a brilliant summation of what both book and film are really about.
As Thompson and his “attorney,” Dr. Gonzo (Benicio del Toro, who gained 45 pounds for the role, eating 16 donuts a day!) are speeding towards Las Vegas, you could be forgiven for thinking that you were tripping along with the two leads.
Gilliam and DP Nicola Pecorini picked out specific cinematic qualities to describe each drug experience: for ether, a loose depth of field; for adrenochrome [not from human gland as Dr. Gonzo states!], narrow and claustrophobic close shots; for mescaline, having colors melt in each other, flares with no source, playing with color temperatures; for amyl nitrite, light levels get uneven, increase and decrease during the shots; and for LSD, everything extremely wide, hallucinations via morphs, shapes, colors and sounds.
These days, $18.5 million will get you a 20-minute black-and-white short. In 1998, they still lost some $8M at the box office.
Some great actors bought the ticket and took the ride:
- Tobey Maguire (the hitchhiker)
- Christina Ricci (Lucy)
- Ellen Barkin (Waitress at North Star Cafe)
- Gary Busey (Highway patrolman)
- Mark Harmon (Magazine reporter)
- Cameron Diaz (Blonde TV reporter)
- Katherine Helmond (Desk clerk)
- Michael Jeter (Dr. L. Ron Bumquist)
- Hunter S. Thompson (himself, in Matrix flashback)
Film Rating (0-60):
54
The ExtrasThe Booklet
Twenty-eight page booklet featuring essays by J. Hoberman and two pieces by Thompson.
Hoberman:
“The dope-addled search for America will be three days in Vegas, and a twilight arrival in Glitter Gulch occasions the definitive LSD sequence in Hollywood movies — a farrago of glacially delayed responses, free-floating incomprehension, inadvertent word repetitions, and minor visual distortions blossoming into full-fledged hallucination. Gilliam gleefully stages Thompson’s panicky experience of the hotel cocktail lounge — ‘We’re right in the middle of a fucking reptile zoo! And somebody’s giving booze to these goddamn things!’ — adding to the comedy by flipping in and out of his hero’s drastically expanded consciousness.”
Thompson:
“Nixon is a serious pro football freak. He and I are old buddies on this front: we once spent a long night together on the Thruway from Boston to Manchester, dissecting the pro & con strategy of the Oakland-Green Bay Super Bowl game. It was the only time I’ve ever seen the bugger relaxed — laughing, whacking me on the knee as he recalled Max McGee’s one-handed catch for the back-breaking touchdown. I was impressed. It was like talking to Owsley about Acid … the trouble with Nixon is that he’s a serious politics junkie. He’s totally hooked … and like any other junkie, he’s a bummer to have around: Especially as President.”
“‘Instructions for reading Gonzo Journalism’ — November 1971 — Washington, D.C. *Half pint, 10-inch hypo-needle (the kind used for spinal taps & inoculating bulls) * Fill this full or rum, tequila or wild turkey & shoot the entire contents straight into the stomach, thru the navel. This will induce a fantastic rush — much like the 3/4 hour amyl high — plenty of tine to read the whole saga.”
Commentary
- Gilliam. Wonderful commentary. Great details about editing, for example. They didn’t have an Avid, so the film was edited the old-fashioned way — with glue splices. He and Lesley Walker were constantly re-arranging scenes, and Gilliam credits not having an Avid for providing more satisfying editing solutions. He laughs his way through the commentary — and who can blame him? This is a very funny movie!
- Depp, Del Toro and producer Laila Nabulsi. Nabulsi — once Thompson’s girlfriend — spent over a decade getting this into production. Getting Gilliam, Depp and Del Toro was a coup. The actors relive the production and seem obliged to state the obvious — no, they were not high when making the film. Both actors totally bought the ticket and took the ride …
- Thompson. Pretty incoherent. Nabulsi prompts him with fairly banal questions, and he doubles down and provides nonsensical banal answers. They place calls to Depp and Del Toro and get answering machines. His writing speaks for itself.
With commentary by Gilliam.
Three scenes — all rough-cuts, which attest to Gilliam’s vision and attention to the budget that they remained unfinished. Mostly cut for flow, except the last one — regarding good beer, an all-American grandfather (played by Ron Howard’s father!), and his lovely granddaughter, which test audiences completely misunderstood.
Collection 1
Collection 1
Of storyboards and production designs.
Gilliam’s storyboards are hilarious! Draws like a two-year-old, but knows exactly what he wants. Some notes indicate that he knew what was better done in post to save money.
Stills gallery
Stills gallery
Nice to see Gilliam with the cast.
Selection
Selection
Of Thompson correspondence, read on camera by Depp.
Quite funny. Hunter writes in faux-grumpy-old-man style, while Depp replies respectfully. Nice to see what a deep friendship they shared.
Hunter Goes to Hollywood
Quite funny. Hunter writes in faux-grumpy-old-man style, while Depp replies respectfully. Nice to see what a deep friendship they shared.
Hunter Goes to Hollywood
A short documentary video by filmmaker Wayne Ewing.
With Depp and Del Toro.
Look at the controversy
Over the screenwriting credit.
This is also hilarious in a sad sort of way. If you’ve never been aware of the arbitration process for the Screenwriters Guild, you’ll learn some quite disturbing. Especially when all four writers were just juxtaposing Thompson’s original text. Laila was really the one who should have got the credit, but she generously passed in order to get the damn thing moving. She’s the hero here.
Extras Rating (0-40):
Original trailer and TV spots
Another great example of a studio not really understanding their own film — Gilliam tried to get them to do an intelligent trailer, but it seems he got hoisted on his own petard with the drug stuff.
Also note the original writers credit to Cox, with no Gilliam.
Materials
On Oscar Zeta Acosta, the inspiration for Dr. Gonzo.
The real thing. Acosta — aka Buffalo Zeta Brown — reads from his book, The Revolt of the Cockroach People (1973) about trying to uncover the facts behind the death of Ruben Salazar, including his presence at a second autopsy. It would make a great film, but unfortunately Acosta is completely sober.
Collection 2
Of original artwork by illustrator Ralph Steadman.
Excerpt
From 1996 Fear and Loathing audio CD with Maury Chaykin, Jim Jarmusch, and Harry Dean Stanton.
Five tacos for $1.
Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood
A 1978 documentary with Thompson and Steadman.
The BBC drags them along for the ride. Hunter could care less.
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