Reviews

Well I finally got round to watching this. I have to say it's rather overrated, and that's putting it mildly. It reminded me of 'Traffic' or any other overblown TV-movie-esquire morality tale over which I've wasted my time in the past. Just because a film is photographed really well (this certainly is) does not make it worth all these 10/10 ratings. I've read in the discussion comments that some people have shown this film to 6-9 year olds - I hope some day they feel as ashamed as they should. Scaring kids with this kind of sub-'Reefer Madness' paranoia-fest is going to ultimately have precisely the opposite effect that you think it should.

Some others here have pointed out some of the frankly unrealistic depictions of drug culture in this film. Here's just a few that I noticed - the mass drug distribution scene in a supermarket storeroom (give me a break!), not being able to score drugs in BROOKLYN (err... hello?), the fact that all the characters look straight out of a glossy teen magazine all the time (there's an easy way out of your money problems guys... join a modelling agency). One of the few traces of snot came with Harry's mom's legal-amphetamine disaster.. oh wait, it's because she's (whisper) 'ooold'.

Can I find anything good to say about this film? OK, it sets out the fact that addictions are bad (who ever tried to argue otherwise?), and that sometimes the most horrible addictions are legal ones (although not as bad as skag because it can make you into a hoe or lose an arm). And it does this powerfully. However the story is, at best, a horrific worst-case nightmare scenario, the likes of which only the truly vulnerable and lost are going to fall prey to - that or the criminally stupid. If this is the case, sooner or later something is going to destroy your life anyway... it's just a matter of what you have access to. Judging by the ratings, I thought this film was going to offer something more real, perhaps something about what causes people to do this to themselves (aside from maternal issues... sigh..). The real tragedy of this movie is that it does not.

Hmm so anything else good about this movie? The acting is at least functional, worthy of the best TV-movies. The photography and general production is, as already mentioned, unarguably great. The thing is, if anyone could be bothered to research such stuff, I think they'd be able to trace the sheer lack of any creative progression in modern western cinema back to the time that jumped-up music video and TV advert directors were first allowed onto a feature film set. That and too much cocaine. If anything this film proves that the film industry definitely needs a whole lot less cocaine.

The director here clearly is fascinated by paranoia/terror and representing it with twitchy jump edits. Technically good and initially arresting but it doesn't make a watchable film, and loses its intensity when it's done as much as it is here. To be honest the director comes across as a pretty negative guy, who prefers to apathetically wallow in tragedy and gloom rather than offer some real positive answers. His first film, Pi, was similar, and similarly over-rated. It seemed to me that he had an unhealthy fascination with the humiliation of the girl.. maybe the only option was to be more extreme than anyone else because this storyline has been done about 5818948923 times? Overall it looks like the director realised that by far the most profitable demographic for DVDs is angst-filled teenagers who thrive on spending their student loans on banquets of melancholy like this.

Sorry to be so brutal but really, there are far, far better films out there about this kind of subject matter which won't try and pummel you into a state of feeble submission ('Trainspotting' is a good example). I guess I'm just annoyed that I wasted my time... seriously, what is the point of sitting for 1.5 hours to be shattered by horrible tragedy that doesn't actually bear any resemblance to the real world, and doesn't offer any answers as to WHY this kind of thing actually happens sometimes? Maybe the thing that really bothers me is that most modern American films, even the so-called 'independents', seem to be so utterly empty and binary in their subtlety - there is no room for anything at all between vacuous air-headed garbage and morose doom-fests. As long as you dress it up with some slick photography and editing, and throw in some beautiful looking people, audiences will lap it up and ask for more.

This documentary is intensely powerful, all 4 parts of it - easily over 4 or 5 hours in total (I watched it all from beginning to end in one sitting and lost track of time). The purity of the depiction is very refreshing, free of the overbearingly pompous moral platitudes of someone like Michael Moore. No voice-over, just the just the voices of people involved in the disaster. Yes, it is clear what side the filmmaker is on. However, the way the film is produced is balanced, thought-provoking and insightful in such a way that one simply cannot argue with what it is saying. It is incredibly poignant, but there is no sentimentality here - there 's simply no need for it, because the tragedy is so stark and numbing in its extremity. The scale of the tragedy is too huge for any lens to capture, but this is probably the closest most outsiders could ever get to feeling the pain of the New Orleans people. It is clear this was an unprecedented event, and it really does require the depth and scope that a 4 or 5 hour examination makes possible. It is always compulsive viewing, and while the subject matter is impossibly dark, it does show some wonderful flashes of human strength and positivity that provide some hope. In short, it is a masterpiece of documentary film-making, and a very courageous project.

** spoilers and discussion below **

The first 2 parts cover the buildup to and immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It is harrowing and painful. It is incredible to see 'third-world' scenes of utter devastation and people so viciously stripped of their humanity and dignity on American soil. You will see dead bodies hideously swollen and decomposed, shell-shocked children whose last memory of their home is watching their parents die. Words honestly fail me when trying to convey the horrors depicted here. It is not easy viewing, but in a way it is our duty to watch it.

Nothing can prepare you for acts 3 and 4 that cover the longer-term aftermath. This is a mind-boggling story of an entire people, community and culture sold out and literally left to rot. Families are separated and dispersed around the country, left to fend for themselves. Work on clearing up the city doesn't even start for 6+ months after the event. On top of everything else, property developers are trying to steal citizens' bare land with the government's help (it's very profitable you see). It is a shameful indictment of the corrupt and subhuman way that the US is run. To any sane person watching, there is absolutely no doubt that the government of the US does not care about its people. For this reason alone this is probably the most important film that Spike Lee will ever make.

I am saddened by the criticism of this film in some of the reviews here. The film is clearly not only about black people, even though when a city has such a large black majority it is inevitable that race will become an issue. Wake up America, the only place in the world with such segregated communities was South Africa during apartheid. There are a lot of clearly shocked white people here, quite obviously feeling absolutely betrayed by the government and system they formerly believed in. It seems almost like the negative reviewers are hired ghouls of the government out to discredit this film and its maker.

The more cynical would say "well, what right do these people have to receive anything for free?" - I would implore these people to watch act 4. Lawful citizens who have paid years of tax and insurance, building a livelihood out of nothing with their bare hands, are told they will get nothing - theft and fraud on a grand scale. How does this fit into the American dream? How do you know that it won't happen to you tomorrow?

The most incredible thing you realise after watching this film is that somewhere along the line, life and humanity became expendable and cheaper than the paper we worship. The only thing that means anything anymore is money and power, and the only way to grow is to acquire more of it. This documentary shows how empty and destructive this philosophy actually is. I'm happy that Spike Lee still has the balls to make films like this.

The other thing you're left wondering at the end is: what more does it actually take for people to wake up and realise what is happening? What is this 'freedom' that is being sold to the world with a gun to its head?

By the way if you think I'm a typical internet anarcho-commie rebel, you could not be further from the truth. I work, pay taxes, bills, all the rest of it, just like any honest citizen. Read my other reviews, I'm not some kind of reactionary Infowars sheep. However I refuse to bury my head in the sand, and after watching this film you will also find it hard to do so. The truth is here, more vivid, brutal and real than CNN could ever be. You owe it to yourself to watch it.

I'm not sure how many times I've watched Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas, but it's well over 30 times. This film is a masterpiece on so many levels. I'd rank it with the best of modern American film-making, along with Coppola, Kubrick and Scorsese's finest work. Firstly, the way this film is executed despite the tiny budget is nothing short of unbelievable. It made me respect Terry Gilliam in a whole new way. Despite the potential for fancy CG given the subject matter, almost all the scenes of delusions and hallucinations are done using 'analogue' techniques (to brilliant effect) and the few touches of CG are tasteful and blend in well with the immaculately realised early 70s setting. I've heard that the lack of CG was due to funds running out, but I'm very glad this happened.

I'm not a big fanboy of the book or its worldview. There are things I deeply admire about Hunter, and things that I detest too. This still doesn't detract from his story or the film based on it. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas makes me laugh harder than anything else I've ever encountered, even after the number of times I've watched it. Yet it also has some very poignant and atmospheric moments.

The film makes you feel, intensely, the dripping sleaze, pouring sweat and hot, dry desert air of Vegas. The psychedelic soundtrack conjures the era at the crumbling end of the revolutionary 60s. You feel the lurching highs and crushing lows of the two main characters' drug binges as vividly as they do. You live their darkly introspective nightmares and spiralling paranoia. And you revel in their lunatic adventures in the vortex of the American dream, urinating in the face of the supposedly wholesome and decent society in which these strange mutants exist.

Depp and Del Toro are ridiculously good in this movie - I'd be gobsmacked if they ever produced better performances. Del Toro in particular is a powerhouse, at times he's mercilessly cruel, invincible and terrifying, and at others a hilarious train-wreck. He always remains immensely likable and charismatic - a perfect portrayal of the Dr. Gonzo character. Depp is also great as Hunter, manic and helplessly cowering from his hallucinations while still trying to maintain his composure and eloquence as a journalist. They pull off every scene incredibly well, especially when taking turns to be the 'responsible' minder for his drug-wrecked counterpart, when just as ripped. The supporting cast is also spectacular - the actors playing even small parts like Sven the clerk at the Tropicana, Lacerda the photographer, bellboys, traffic cops, car rental salesmen and countless high profile cameos all display great comic timing and clearly have a good understanding of the material.

It is so easy to totally fail to hit the mark with this kind of subject matter, but this is one of the most perfect feature films I've come across. There are never any dull moments and it's a trip in itself. Every scene is a masterful set piece full of energy and brutal humour, and the structure is fluid and compelling. Even though it obviously helps to have great material like Thompson's book to work with (and it is virtually an exact translation of it), it's no mean feat to pull it off in a motion picture format.

One of the greatest achievements of this film is the accuracy of its portrayal of drug subculture. Gilliam denies ever having touched a chemical substance in his life, but I find this frankly impossible to believe... the detail and authenticity of his direction is just too good. At no point is the film judgmental, preachy or unrealistic in how it depicts events which most normal people would find horrifying. It shows the highs, excitement and enhanced perspective and perception offered by chemical substances, while showing how they can also reduce you to a shambolic mess. Anyone who thinks this is a pro-drug movie has simply not understood it at all.

I highly recommend this movie to all intelligent viewers, especially the Criterion edition which features a lot of extras, including a very good BBC-produced documentary/interview of Mr. Thompson himself.

I guess when I first watched this film a few years ago I was expecting something a lot more epic and dramatic. At the end I wasn't sure what to make of it. I decided to watch it again earlier today, having seen a couple of very soulless movies recently. I don't often submit reviews, but I had to make an exception because watching Porco Rosso again was pure blissful enjoyment. It touched me in a similar way to Kiki's Delivery Service, a simple and sweetly poetic film that seems to reaffirm everything beautiful about humanity, while not straying anywhere near syrupy sentimentality or sledgehammer-like emotional manipulation.

It's easy to see why people are perplexed by this film - it's a love story where the lovers never get together, the reasons for the hero's very odd anthropomorphic predicament are never fully explained, and the villains are all comically inept and quaintly endearing. I think, however, that you have to let go of preconceived ideas of what constitutes a good story and go with the flow. If you do, you'll really enjoy this film.

Settings are mesmerisingly evocative and the animation is absolute perfection - even people who aren't charmed by the story cannot help being sucked in by the amazingly dynamic flight sequences. The scene where Porco's revamped seaplane rips through the canals of Milan is particularly breathtaking. It does not look at all dated, despite being 15 years old. In fact many modern films (animated and otherwise) could learn a lot from the subtlety, detail and understatement in its technical flawlessness.

So many universal themes are explored very well in this film that it would take a very long essay to discuss them all. What impressed me most was what it says about freedom, and how man perhaps values it above everything else. It makes it very easy to understand why Porco avoids the love of two of the most unique and amazing women any man could ever hope to meet in one lifetime, because he finds happiness being at one with the sea and the sky.

NOTE: I recommend seeing this film in Japanese with subtitles, instead of any dubbed versions.