I haven't read a single line of Thomas Pynchons prose thus far. But after watching Paul Thomas Andersons sublime work based on one of his books, I must say, it would be a sad state of affairs to leave this world without having read some of Mr. Pynchon's words.
This weird tale of corruption, sex, greed, counter-culture and lost chances may rank among the finest recreations of the much epitomized sixties in America. During it's entire running time I had to think about "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" more than once. "Inherent Vice" seems to be strangely connected to Hunter S. Thompsons work and Terry Gilliam's adaption, which also showed the afterglow of this decade of idealism. And both movies star Benicio Del Toro as a lawyer.
Within the plot of a detective story lies a very touching core concerning a generation of thrill-seekers" as Thompson wrote, who were ready for everything except some sort of real intimacy.
The acting is as perfect as can be, and the production design, sound, camera-work are as it has become a trademark of the director and his collaborators, specific and fully realized.
So, after having heralded the obvious, there's one last note to be made. The movie smoothly glides through 1970 Los Angeles in the wake of those societal changes and left this viewer who was not even alive back then, with a deep sense of regret. The atmosphere that "Inherent Vice" exudes is druggy, surreal and yet strangely tied to all the unanswered questions and real tragedies (Altamont, the Manson Murders etc.) that made the revolution come to a screeching halt. What was left were the drugs, some glorious memories but also a feeling of distance. As much as there was a sexual and intellectual liberation, it seems those thrill-seekers" were unable to commit to something tangible. To commit wouldn't have been hip, and to be square meant to be dead. And by evoking such thoughts and emotions, the movie delves into something inherently human and therefore something truly precious.
This weird tale of corruption, sex, greed, counter-culture and lost chances may rank among the finest recreations of the much epitomized sixties in America. During it's entire running time I had to think about "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" more than once. "Inherent Vice" seems to be strangely connected to Hunter S. Thompsons work and Terry Gilliam's adaption, which also showed the afterglow of this decade of idealism. And both movies star Benicio Del Toro as a lawyer.
Within the plot of a detective story lies a very touching core concerning a generation of thrill-seekers" as Thompson wrote, who were ready for everything except some sort of real intimacy.
The acting is as perfect as can be, and the production design, sound, camera-work are as it has become a trademark of the director and his collaborators, specific and fully realized.
So, after having heralded the obvious, there's one last note to be made. The movie smoothly glides through 1970 Los Angeles in the wake of those societal changes and left this viewer who was not even alive back then, with a deep sense of regret. The atmosphere that "Inherent Vice" exudes is druggy, surreal and yet strangely tied to all the unanswered questions and real tragedies (Altamont, the Manson Murders etc.) that made the revolution come to a screeching halt. What was left were the drugs, some glorious memories but also a feeling of distance. As much as there was a sexual and intellectual liberation, it seems those thrill-seekers" were unable to commit to something tangible. To commit wouldn't have been hip, and to be square meant to be dead. And by evoking such thoughts and emotions, the movie delves into something inherently human and therefore something truly precious.