Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas

The iconic opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, which depicts the Allied invasion of Normandy during WWII, is probably the closest I've ever felt to actually being in a warzone. Spielberg masterfully recreates the violence, fear, confusion and horror of going into battle in such a realistic way that the viewer gains a powerful emotional insight of what the experience was really like for the soldiers who fought and died on those beaches. Terry Gilliam's Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, though dealing with a different subject, achieves a similar goal. Watching Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas is the closest I've came to experiencing a drug induced nightmare. Based on a Hunter S. Thompson novel, the film follows the misadventures of a journalist (Johnny Depp) and his lawyer friend (Benicio Del Toro) rampaging through Las Vegas while under the continous influence of a potent cocktail of drugs. The journalist is officially there to cover a rally car race in the Nevada desert but their desire and capacity to induce copius amounts of alcohol and drugs takes precedent over this and they wander from one mindbending scenario to another. Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro (two of my favorite contemporary actors) are outstanding in the lead roles. My aunt once said that when she first watched the film she seriously began to wonder if Johnny Depp really was on drugs, such was his utterly convincing performance. There is a strong, almost overpowering, surrealism running through the whole film. This surrealism permeates everything - the acting, script, plot, set designs, music and cinematography. I can't say that I enjoyed this film. It was deeply disturbing and unsettling, but I can appreciate the skill and vision of Terry Gilliam. There is no moral message to the film, at least not directly. It is more an exploration of individual drug use and a portrayal of the drug culture in the late 1960's and early 1970's, which is of course still very relevant today. In that sense the film suceeds very well. The question of why these two men consume so many drugs is never really tackled but their portrayal in this film reminded me of a line in a poem by Ernest Dowson. 'I cried for madder music and for stronger wine.'
7/10