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Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

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by Christiaan Harden
At 5:42pm on February 20, 2005, revered counter-cultural icon, self-proclaimed ‘gun-nut’ and father of Gonzo journalism, Dr. Hunter S Thompson, died from a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. To friends, family and fans alike, the only real surprise was the timing. Thompson’s extraordinary, drug-fuelled life-story is every documentarian’s fantasy; the son of an insurance-adjuster who went on to become one of the finest writers of his generation, a friend of rock-stars and politicians, and an all-American anti-authority iconoclast. Academy-Award-winning director of Taxi to the Dark Side Alex Gibney was also blessed with reams of previously unseen home-footage, newly-discovered audio-recordings and intimate access to Thompson’s family. His film is an unashamedly affectionate, atmospheric, though surprisingly far from definitive biographical romp through the writer’s life. Peppered with dreamy, mesmeric sequences evoking the surreality of Thompson’s own imagination, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson provides a fitting, hugely-entertaining tribute to the maverick’s legacy.

Fast-paced and aesthetically rich, Gonzo focuses primarily on the author-provocateur’s literary heyday, 1965-1975, the catalyst of which was Thompson’s now-infamous account of his year spent living with America’s notorious biker outlaws, the Hell’s Angels. His book not only demolished media-made-myths about the gang, it kick-started his remarkable journey of participatory journalism and provided the foundations for an entirely new approach to reportage, known simply as Gonzo. According to the writer’s biographer, Douglas Brinkley, the die was first cast when Thompson was arrested for underage drinking. His rich friends with influential families were let off and let out, whereas Thompson was forced to miss his own graduation. The incident was an epiphany, a realisation that the American dream was little more than an cruel illusion. Gibney’s film however touches only briefly on Thompson’s earlier, formative years. His father died when he was just 14, but disappointingly there is very little mention of how this tragedy might have affected the young man?
The Academy Award-winning director interviews friends and foes alike from social-conservative rabble-rouser Pat Buchanon, to former Hell’s Angel Sonny Barger and even former US President Jimmy Carter - a delightfully eclectic group of contributors testament to both Thompson’s legendary charisma and influence, as well as Gibney’s abilities as a director. In the film he reveals how the writer became a hostage to the Gonzo persona he’d created and a victim of his own notoriety, no longer able to report so effectively. As the years crept by, Thompson’s once prolific output plummeted. Eventually, he was unable to cope with the realities of old-age, his perceived failures as a writer and became so disillusioned by what he saw as the death of the American Dream, that he considered suicide the only sensible solution. He wasn’t always quite so cynical though. Thompson was inspired by George McGovern’s 1970 White House bid, as he was by the Kennedys’ politics of hope. If only the Dr had seen the rise of Barack Obama, he might just have hung around a little longer.

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