A TRIP TO END ALL TRIPS OF ALL KINDS! "FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS"

Time for something a little more “hard hitting”. We centered around the emotional traumas of war, the 60’s and even the 20’s last week, but this week , I’m going for the “tough stuff”. Quentin Tarantino will feature heavily in the proceedings but before we get to him, I want to discuss another of my favorite directors. Terry Gilliam. Now, to say I love Monty Python would rank among the great understatements of the century… Terry Gilliam is the one in the band who did the animations. A graphic artist by trade he did those beautiful surreal animations that sort of wound out of one absurd shape into another without so much as a “by your leave” leaving the viewer completely befuddled as to where he began in the first place… In a strange way, I feel his work as a director has a lot of the same surreal quality… Not the photography but the storytelling… Did you watch Tideland? Or The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus? Did you like either? If you said yes, you will LOVE Fear and Loathing…
Meet Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp). He was a newspaper reporter somewhere down the line. He still is, thanks to his large Samoan “attorney” Dr Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro). Dr. Gonzo and Duke do a lot of traveling together. They also get into A LOT of serious trouble together. They are usually loaded on every kind of drink and drug imaginable, and they surrender to the drugs, let it course through their bodies and take them wherever the f.ck it feels like. Most of these adventures are fuelled by Duke’s sporadic work as a journalist. And this work sends our weird duo to Las Vegas one fine morning. Mayhem being both Las Vegas’s and Duke and Gonzo’s middle names, the combination is… Highly combustible…
Ok, think of the Big Lebowski. It’s the same kind of film. It is most definitely not suitable for kids. And I hear some of you tut – tutting at the idea of a comedy about drugs saying “maybe we’ll give this one a miss”. No. Do NOT give this one a miss. As far as comedy is concerned, Mr. Gilliam’s talent as a director and Mr. Depp’s acting skills alone make for an unforgettable experience. Raoul Duke, his mannerisms, his way of speech… No wonder the character became a classic… Plus, guest appearances are abundant – Cameron Diaz, Toby Maguire, Christina Ricci… The quality of acting is breath-taking… You may have slight trouble distinguishing a beginning and an end – you would not be wrong. The film however, has content. You will be surprised to find out it even has a political message. Duke harks back to the 60’s when flower power ruled, when the world WAS going to become filled with peace and harmony… He criticizes America of the 80’s and what it became (Gilliam is the only American python so it’s appropriate really. Let’s not forget however that this was actually adapted from a short story by Hunter Tompson but I am yet to read that one…) Duke and Gonzo are degenerates – they are also caricatures… Maybe what Gilliam (and Tompson) are looking for is present with its absence so to speak… You really should watch and give it a good thought… I mean even the dudes at Cannes thought Mr. Gilliam could be worth a Golden Palm (he was nominated didn’t win it thought)Even if you don’t come up with any philosophical or political conclusions, I guarantee you one heck of a ride…