“Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride” honors the life and death of Hunter S. Thompson, one of the most important writers of the past century, and the inventor of “Gonzo journalism” (and shotgun golf).
The film tells the story of Hunter’s life by providing the viewer not only with a biography of the writer and excerpts of his work but, and that is the more important thing, with statements and stories about Hunter, told by personal friends, his wifes Sondi and Anita, colleagues like Tom Wolfe and also celebrities like John Cusack, Sean Penn, Johnny Depp and others. Further, lots of photos also show Hunter’s private side, along with interviews with and clips of Hunter himself. The film makes wide use of the split screen concept, which enables the viewer to see both the interviewees and pictures of Hunter taken during the respective period in his life.
The film starts out from several statements about Hunter S. Thompson, then telling his biography from his childhood days and juvenile delinquency up to his start as a writer for Rolling Stone Magazine and his collaboration with Ralph Steadman, his long-time illustrator from “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved” (1970) onwards, the story being told by Nick Nolte. The invention of “Gonzo journalism” gave Hunter’s life a new direction – the beginning of fame and the creation of a cult.
Fame brought with it the inevitable decision to turn Hunter’s works into movies for the silver screen. In 1980, “Where the Buffalo Roam” starring Bill Murray as Hunter S. Thompson was released, leading to the establishment of a whole new generation of Hunter fans. Based on Thompson’s books/articles “Fear and Loathing at the Superbowl”, and “Fear and Loathing On The Campaign Trail ’72”, this movie not only showed the persona of Hunter on the screen but also was a clear statement regarding his connections with politics and politicians.
In 1998, his novel “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” made it to the big screen, this time starring Johnny Depp in the leading role. Johnny, a fan of Hunter’s writing for a long time, prepared for the role by living in Hunter’s basement for three months. Both of them Kentucky bread, they shared a love for shotguns and good, hour-long conversations, and had this “mutual kind of comprehension what it means ‘to hail from the dark and bloody ground'”, as they used to call it.
Hunter, who had found a home in Woody Creek, Colorado, was surrounded by Hollywood celebrities and artists, his home being a center for “literary and intellectual discussion” and place for “reverse celebrity worship”. But his public life also posed a big strain on him. The question whether audiences wanted to see him or his alter ego, Raoul Duke, was present in his life all the time. Depressions and also a number of physical problems may have been the reason why, on February 20, 2005, Hunter killed himself with a gunshot at the age of 67.
Close friends tell their understanding of the reasons why and honor the fact that Hunter freely decided to end his life, and further report on the very special canon ceremony by which Hunter had wanted to have his ashes blown over his property in Colorado.
First and foremost, the film draws a picture of Hunter S. Thompson as a private person, someone who not only believed in freedom but also lived that way, who alone decided on his way of living, and of dying, no matter how extravagant it might have seemed to others. It also shows how a person leading a lifestyle like Hunter’s influences whole generations of fans and critics and thus, in the end, honors the idea of personal freedom and decision. But it does not do so by reading a lecture but simply by showing the portrayal of one man who, without compromise, lead his life along the lines of his very own rules, and was loved and admired for doing just that.
(c) Conny
