★★★★

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Written by Dalton Welsh - July 14, 2020

There are some films that are so unflinching in their dedication to their mood and style that the response from audiences with often fall on the extremes of “love it” or “hate it”. This is most certainly the case with Terry Gilliam’s psychedelia fuelled cult classic “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”. Following a journalist (Johnny Depp) and his lawyer (Benicio Del Toro) who are sent to Las Vegas to cover the mint 500 motorcycle race, only for their trip to be turned upside down by the frequent indulgence in a variety of recreational drugs. Like chaos in motion Gilliam has crafted a visually hallucinatory adventure that while at times disorienting has great energetic spirit and satirical dark comedy on the state of the U.S in the 1960’s courtesy of two excellent lead performances from now acting veterans Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro.

Perhaps one of the biggest barriers for some will be the movement and positioning of the camera. However, I believe its unconvential nature to be the films greatest strength. With constant extreme close ups, slanted angles and frantic motion, the camera work does a great deal for adding to the frenetic energy of the film, indicative of the altered drug infused state of our protagonists. Conveying equal parts, a free-flowing state of pure euphoric adrenaline in the display of seemingly never-ending landscapes and environments. As well as anxiety induced paranoia and panic in the claustrophobic close ups of our characters in a cold sweat. These elements are then heightened by the designs of Las Vegas, the kaleidoscope of neon lights that surround the film combined with this unnatural cinematography were inspired by the paintings of Robert Yarber. Which the film’s cinematographer Nicola Pecorini described as "very hallucinatory: the paintings use all kinds of neon colors, and the light sources don't necessarily make sense” which they used as reference for their “palette of deeply disturbing fluorescent colors”. All making for an incredibly effective and immersive viewing experience thanks to Gilliam’s frequent election in the use of extreme wide lens.

The contents of the film almost entirely surround Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro’s characters who really go all out in their theatrically dishevelled performances. Making for a combination of scenes of effective comedy and tensely terrifying displays of agitation and anger. While at times it can feel like Depp’s character is simply being quirky with his frenzied movements simply for the sake of being quirky, more often than not it feels authentic to the character and the state he is in. And while these characters conduct some despicable behaviour the charisma of the lead performers helps to create their endearing nature and makes them interesting to watch, despite the fact that they may be lacking in more layered characterisation.

As for the film’s thematic intent it seems to be conveying a critique of the culture of the U.S, particularly during its shift in the 1960's. While it can be on the nose at times through the explicit displaying of footage of Vietnam with Johnny Depp's character outlining his disdain for the war effort. And can additionally feel a little lost amongst the intentionally near incomprehensible scenes of chaos. The ideas and themes that the film is trying to purport are still nonetheless effective. With Las Vegas acting as the perfect representation of despondent capitalist culture. Our protagonists believing drugs to be the only means of escaping this reality of war and corruption. The hypocrisy of this is that their frequent drug use is still fuelling this toxic world only via a different means. Seen in their frequent terrorising of fellow Las Vegas goers and how their own lives are being affected. Ultimately while these ideas are strong, the way in which they are communicated are a little murky. If there were to be any additional grievances with the film, one might be inclined to mention the sound mixing in that the dialogue can often be difficult to understand. While there isn't much of a story to really follow in the first place and the loud sounds of the environment add to the immersion in the films sense of paranoia, it would be nice to have a bit more of understanding of what is going on. Although that could work towards encouraging multiple viewings of the film.

So, with Gilliam's greatly effective and purposeful visual style portraying the dizzying experiences of our protagonists through its frantic motion and buzzing neon glow. The performances of these drug infused delinquents from both Depp and Del Toro showing great range with particularly idiosyncratic weirdness from Depp, that unlike his more recent work, creates a striking personality to observe. And while the themes of the film can at times feel a bit lost it is still nonetheless a successfully provocative look at the cultural shift in 1960’s America.