Angst und Schrecken in Las Vegas (1998)

Angst und Schrecken in Las Vegas: Directed by Terry Gilliam. With Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Tobey Maguire, Michael Lee Gogin. An oddball journalist and his psychopathic lawyer travel to Las Vegas for a series of psychedelic escapades.

“For all those of you who decry this movie for being pointless and lacking soul, that was the point! This is an excellent movie, a true adaptation of the book, nothing more and nothing less. It is an unflinching look at the sickening excesses of a consumption based culture of America during the early 1970u0026#39;s, whou0026#39;s vacuous heart resides in Las Vegas, a symbol of greed and debauchery. The pointlessness of the movie is a metaphor for the pointless pursuit of personal gratification and greed, the true heart of the u0026quot;American Dreamu0026quot;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIf you put aside the usual assumptions about a movie, i.e. that you are supposed to care about the characters, that their needs to conflict and resolution etc, then you will enjoy it much better. This movie is a magical ride and actually works on many levels, not only as testimony to the horrors of excessive drug use, and the tacky, ugly view of the worst parts of America, but also to the failed 60u0026#39;s generation, a generation that thought that u0026quot;somebody somewhere is guarding the light at the end of the tunnelu0026quot;. Drug use is simply a way of escaping your present reality, and all the drugged out zeroes of the sixties were truly lost if they thought that enlightenment and peace could come from a hit of acid. This movie takes Timothy Learyu0026#39;s supposition of u0026quot;freeing your mindu0026quot; to itu0026#39;s ultimate conclusion and the conclusion is that you are not actually freeing your mind, but destroying it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOf course this movie is also fun to watch the incredible performances by Johnny Depp and Benitio Del Torro, both of whom I barely even recognized in their roles (Depp with a shaven head and the bloated Del Torro who gained 40 pounds for his portrayal of u0026quot;Dr. Gonzou0026quot;). Del Torro has one scene in particular (the bathtub scene) which is both disgusting and very disturbing. Apparently his performance was so convincing that he had a hard time getting work after this film because everyone was convinced that he was wasted on the set. The truth is that heu0026#39;s just a damn fine actor who didnu0026#39;t hold back for one second, which is exactly what the film called for. Also the scene of Johnny Depp squealing like a banshee after imbibing some adrenocrome and Del Torro freaking out behind him is unforgettable.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe directing itself is fast paced with offseting angles a lot of wide angle lenses. Gilliam has a style which is unmistakable, itu0026#39;s like walking around inside of a Dali painting, everything is distorted and stretched to create a strong sense of surrealism. Yet his approach is much less offensive than Oliver Stone, who desperately throws every single filming trick at you repeatedly until you are pummeled into submission. Wow, look he switch to 8 mm, then black and white, now itu0026#39;s slow mo all in 3 seconds!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnyway, I digress. This is a fine movie, donu0026#39;t watch it stoned, youu0026#39;ll get more out of it, repeated viewings are recommended. I also recommend getting the criterion DVD version, which has commentary by Gilliam, Depp, del Torro and Hunter S. Thompson himself!”