Nichole RutledgeFear & Loathing in Las Vegas
November 4th 2007 08:24
I recently read the Hunter S. Thompson's Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas which inspired me to re-watch the movie with a new admiration for the acid-crazed-law-breaking-drug fiends. This was the movie that famously made Thompson, who is credited as the founder of "Gonzo journalism". The story was originally published as a two part piece for Rolling Stone magazine in the seventies.
The book not only makes clear all their drug induced rants and mumbles, but as with all books used as the basis for films it tells more of the story and the character backgrounds. That being said the Fear and Loathing film is almost word for word taken from the book, its one of the most accurately portrayed books in film.
An interesting fact I found out was that prior to shooting his role as Thompson in the film Johnny Depp spent numerous months with Thompson trying to capture the essence of his character. Hunter and Depp became friends so much so that the clothes Depp wears in the film are actually Thompson's real clothes, as well as the "Great Red Shark" convertible. Incidentally Depp also paid for his extravagant funeral when Thompson committed suicide in 2005.
Bill Murray however wasn't so fortunate when he studied Thompson in the late seventies to play him in the film Where the Buffalo Roam. The pair were said to have had a drunken argument about the art of escapology which resulted in Murray being tied to a chair and thrown into a pool. After not being able to escape Thompson finally fished him out. I guess that settled their argument.
Ok, let me back up a bit for those who haven't seen the film. Its basically a tale of Hunter S. Thompson's alter ego journalist Raoul Duke's (played by Johnny Depp) trip to Las Vegas with "His Attorney" (played brilliantly by Benicio Del Toro) to cover the coveted Mint 400 motor cycle race. This is merely an excuse for these refugees from the sixties to embark on a drug fuelled adventure in search of the elusive American Dream. What ensues is pure chaos with lashing of pure genius.....pure Gonzo journalism.
The book not only makes clear all their drug induced rants and mumbles, but as with all books used as the basis for films it tells more of the story and the character backgrounds. That being said the Fear and Loathing film is almost word for word taken from the book, its one of the most accurately portrayed books in film.
An interesting fact I found out was that prior to shooting his role as Thompson in the film Johnny Depp spent numerous months with Thompson trying to capture the essence of his character. Hunter and Depp became friends so much so that the clothes Depp wears in the film are actually Thompson's real clothes, as well as the "Great Red Shark" convertible. Incidentally Depp also paid for his extravagant funeral when Thompson committed suicide in 2005.
Bill Murray however wasn't so fortunate when he studied Thompson in the late seventies to play him in the film Where the Buffalo Roam. The pair were said to have had a drunken argument about the art of escapology which resulted in Murray being tied to a chair and thrown into a pool. After not being able to escape Thompson finally fished him out. I guess that settled their argument.
Ok, let me back up a bit for those who haven't seen the film. Its basically a tale of Hunter S. Thompson's alter ego journalist Raoul Duke's (played by Johnny Depp) trip to Las Vegas with "His Attorney" (played brilliantly by Benicio Del Toro) to cover the coveted Mint 400 motor cycle race. This is merely an excuse for these refugees from the sixties to embark on a drug fuelled adventure in search of the elusive American Dream. What ensues is pure chaos with lashing of pure genius.....pure Gonzo journalism.
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