1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:12,074 Advertise your product or brand here contact www.OpenSubtitles.org today 2 00:00:22,564 --> 00:00:25,316 I really thought what I would do 3 00:00:25,317 --> 00:00:28,536 if I ever learned to draw properly 4 00:00:28,695 --> 00:00:32,039 was I would try to change the world. 5 00:02:47,751 --> 00:02:49,594 Is this thing working? 6 00:02:49,878 --> 00:02:53,756 Right now, Ralph, what exactly are we doing here? 7 00:02:53,757 --> 00:02:57,009 It's a very odd idea to make a movie, 8 00:02:57,010 --> 00:02:59,637 a film, a documentary, 9 00:02:59,638 --> 00:03:02,306 about an artist, say me. 10 00:03:02,307 --> 00:03:04,975 And in one way it's rather a good idea, 11 00:03:04,976 --> 00:03:09,397 and in another way you wonder why one is doing it. 12 00:03:09,398 --> 00:03:13,025 Except that it's become 13 00:03:13,026 --> 00:03:17,363 far more personal as it's developed 14 00:03:17,364 --> 00:03:20,866 into something which really is about my work and about me. 15 00:03:20,867 --> 00:03:23,619 And I think that makes it more interesting 16 00:03:23,620 --> 00:03:26,706 because it takes in the good and the bad. 17 00:03:26,707 --> 00:03:30,928 It takes in all sides, all dimensions. 18 00:03:34,214 --> 00:03:38,968 It's almost, when you come down to see us, 19 00:03:38,969 --> 00:03:42,304 we know what we're going to do, even though we haven't planned anything. 20 00:03:42,305 --> 00:03:45,099 We just simply carry on and if something comes out, 21 00:03:45,100 --> 00:03:47,476 something does, and sometimes it doesn't. 22 00:03:47,477 --> 00:03:49,562 And so that seems to me 23 00:03:49,563 --> 00:03:53,863 the kind of thing that's made this all worthwhile. 24 00:04:01,783 --> 00:04:06,834 I haven't seen Ralph since the signing of Hunter's memorial poster. 25 00:04:06,955 --> 00:04:09,874 It's been a while, and I've really been looking forward 26 00:04:09,875 --> 00:04:13,549 to catching up with him in his studio at Loose Court. 27 00:04:17,215 --> 00:04:19,308 Right. 28 00:04:21,678 --> 00:04:24,601 I'm gonna put a piece of paper down here. 29 00:04:25,015 --> 00:04:28,684 I don't know why. I think it's because you're in the room. 30 00:04:28,685 --> 00:04:33,065 If you weren't here, I'd be having a lie-down now. 31 00:04:36,026 --> 00:04:37,318 Are you ready for this? 32 00:04:37,319 --> 00:04:41,119 'Cause it might not be very good, but it might be great, too. 33 00:04:42,199 --> 00:04:44,872 I love it. 34 00:04:58,799 --> 00:05:00,883 When I don't know what to do, 35 00:05:00,884 --> 00:05:02,593 I do that. 36 00:05:02,594 --> 00:05:07,056 It's a kind of cheat, in a way, because you don't know 37 00:05:07,057 --> 00:05:10,392 whether you did it because 38 00:05:10,393 --> 00:05:13,062 you can't do anything and there is nothing in your mind, 39 00:05:13,063 --> 00:05:15,907 or you did it because it might just lead somewhere. 40 00:05:39,589 --> 00:05:41,841 It's fantastic when that happens. 41 00:05:42,300 --> 00:05:45,644 I can see a horse in there already. 42 00:05:56,898 --> 00:05:58,232 I didn't know what it was 43 00:05:58,233 --> 00:06:00,735 and then I suddenly thought, "I know what it is." 44 00:06:01,236 --> 00:06:03,279 It's an unloved pet, 45 00:06:03,280 --> 00:06:06,574 and it's a shame that I drew it, really, 46 00:06:06,575 --> 00:06:08,784 because I don't like it. 47 00:06:08,785 --> 00:06:11,120 It's a horrible-looking creature. 48 00:06:11,121 --> 00:06:14,999 And if it walked into the living room, I'd kick it out. 49 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:16,458 And it's a frame of mind. 50 00:06:16,459 --> 00:06:18,961 All I've done is made something 51 00:06:18,962 --> 00:06:21,797 that's part of a frame of mind I might be in at the moment. 52 00:06:21,798 --> 00:06:24,221 What a terrible thing. 53 00:06:40,817 --> 00:06:44,403 It was 1969 when my first book was published. 54 00:06:44,404 --> 00:06:46,155 It was a collected works 55 00:06:46,156 --> 00:06:51,076 of all my cartoons that I had done since I had taken it seriously. 56 00:06:51,077 --> 00:06:53,579 That's absolutely amazing. 57 00:07:04,424 --> 00:07:07,676 This was the beginning, really, the conducted tour, 58 00:07:07,677 --> 00:07:10,012 and the whole idea of it being The Pioneers, 59 00:07:10,013 --> 00:07:14,350 it's like you're going, you know, we're going off on a conducted tour 60 00:07:14,351 --> 00:07:16,435 and everything's comfortable. 61 00:07:16,436 --> 00:07:20,814 And they'd just get off the bus, look around and get back on again. 62 00:07:20,815 --> 00:07:24,902 And then I thought of this when they brought Muzak in. 63 00:07:24,903 --> 00:07:27,696 So I did the picture called Down at the Old Bull and Bush. 64 00:07:27,697 --> 00:07:29,365 And there's the old boy with his pint 65 00:07:29,366 --> 00:07:33,452 and then all this Muzak coming out of the speaker. 66 00:07:33,453 --> 00:07:37,423 Because it was really only just getting going, all this stuff. 67 00:08:00,146 --> 00:08:02,398 Part of my idea of humor 68 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:06,365 was it would be slightly maniacal. 69 00:08:13,368 --> 00:08:16,036 But there was an arrogance missing. 70 00:08:16,037 --> 00:08:19,081 There was a wildness missing. 71 00:08:19,082 --> 00:08:22,005 There was a rawness missing. 72 00:08:22,127 --> 00:08:28,048 It lacked that bite I needed, that real ferocious bite, 73 00:08:28,049 --> 00:08:31,428 the thing that would make it noticeable. 74 00:08:39,394 --> 00:08:42,773 Still as relevant today as it was then. 75 00:08:43,940 --> 00:08:47,444 Great. Amazing. Just incredible. 76 00:08:49,696 --> 00:08:52,072 The reason I learned to draw 77 00:08:52,073 --> 00:08:55,617 wasn't just to be able to draw and people say, "That's pretty," 78 00:08:55,618 --> 00:08:59,839 but that I needed to apply it as a weapon almost. 79 00:09:00,957 --> 00:09:04,131 It was something quite savage. 80 00:09:05,587 --> 00:09:07,421 People would see the work 81 00:09:07,422 --> 00:09:10,175 and they would think about it. 82 00:09:16,806 --> 00:09:19,980 In a way, it was a wonderful calling card. 83 00:09:20,894 --> 00:09:23,647 I took it with me to America. 84 00:09:23,772 --> 00:09:26,024 And that was 1970. 85 00:09:48,046 --> 00:09:50,005 Bus for New York City. 86 00:09:50,006 --> 00:09:53,342 Hey, driver, hold up. I'm trying to get on. 87 00:09:53,343 --> 00:09:55,390 Hold up, man. 88 00:09:56,096 --> 00:09:58,724 All right. Thanks a lot. 89 00:09:59,724 --> 00:10:03,894 My idea was actually to do a thousand pictures of New York. 90 00:10:03,895 --> 00:10:05,187 Well... 91 00:10:05,188 --> 00:10:07,272 What I was looking for were things to draw. 92 00:10:07,273 --> 00:10:10,692 New York, skyscrapers and everything. 93 00:10:10,693 --> 00:10:13,366 It's God's own city, man. 94 00:10:13,488 --> 00:10:16,198 Hey, what's up, man? Hey, you look fine. 95 00:10:16,199 --> 00:10:19,201 What you trying to make yourself five bucks for, bro? 96 00:10:19,202 --> 00:10:21,537 Yeah. Hey, hey. 97 00:10:21,538 --> 00:10:25,008 Just run across, man. Just run across the street. Come on, man. 98 00:10:25,583 --> 00:10:27,334 What it does for me, 99 00:10:27,335 --> 00:10:29,378 it freezes a moment, 100 00:10:29,379 --> 00:10:31,713 that when I look back on it, 101 00:10:31,714 --> 00:10:34,883 I think, "Goodness me. Did that really happen?" 102 00:10:34,884 --> 00:10:36,718 You know, it's just something 103 00:10:36,719 --> 00:10:40,764 that is frozen in time and it's gonna change. 104 00:10:40,765 --> 00:10:43,142 Nothing stays the same. 105 00:11:07,167 --> 00:11:12,462 I found it upsetting seeing all these vagrant people wandering the streets 106 00:11:12,463 --> 00:11:15,933 and always staggering towards you 107 00:11:16,301 --> 00:11:19,930 and grabbing you by the hand. 108 00:11:20,305 --> 00:11:25,058 And saying, "Give us a dime, buddy. This is a tough city to get started in." 109 00:11:25,059 --> 00:11:28,187 It's hopeless. I could never do it. 110 00:11:28,188 --> 00:11:29,396 Yeah. 111 00:11:29,397 --> 00:11:33,276 And I wanted to capture that sort of look, that face. 112 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:00,719 I was drawn towards skid row, I was drawn towards it 113 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:07,148 as a sort of almost a museum of misery and deprivation. 114 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:14,233 And I think this is a picture of a bum, 115 00:12:14,234 --> 00:12:16,401 and he's hanging onto a fire hydrant, 116 00:12:16,402 --> 00:12:20,197 and there's a woman saying, "Why don't you get up and get yourself a job?" 117 00:12:20,198 --> 00:12:21,823 You know, that sort of thing. 118 00:12:21,824 --> 00:12:25,244 "You're lyin' about on the pavement doin' nothin'." 119 00:12:25,245 --> 00:12:28,123 "Leave me alone, lady. Leave me alone." 120 00:12:36,130 --> 00:12:39,716 I think my experience in New York 121 00:12:39,717 --> 00:12:44,222 gave me the conviction that I needed 122 00:12:45,181 --> 00:12:49,151 to make this the work of my life. 123 00:12:49,978 --> 00:12:55,075 I needed it to reassure myself that I wasn't wasting my time. 124 00:12:55,942 --> 00:13:02,239 Cartooning meant more to me than just doing funny pictures. 125 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:07,462 It meant to change things for the better. 126 00:13:30,810 --> 00:13:32,732 While I was in New York, 127 00:13:33,104 --> 00:13:35,777 I got a phone call. 128 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:43,447 Hello? 129 00:13:43,448 --> 00:13:47,242 To go and meet an ex-Hells Angel who just shaved his head, 130 00:13:47,243 --> 00:13:49,120 Hunter S. Thompson. 131 00:13:51,581 --> 00:13:53,879 Hunter, he always called you in the middle of the night. 132 00:13:53,958 --> 00:13:57,127 It was always 3:00, 4:00 in the morning. You knew it was Hunter. 133 00:13:57,128 --> 00:14:00,381 He said, "God damn it." He always said, "God damn it." 134 00:14:00,757 --> 00:14:03,592 "Gotta go to the Kentucky Derby." Well, it was, like, Wednesday or Thursday. 135 00:14:03,593 --> 00:14:05,010 Kentucky Derby was Saturday. 136 00:14:05,011 --> 00:14:08,388 I was like, "Well, okay, you wanna go to the Kentucky Derby, we'll go." 137 00:14:08,389 --> 00:14:12,184 He says, "Well, a photographer?" I said, "We'll find somebody." 138 00:14:12,185 --> 00:14:15,604 So, it was short notice, so I thought of this guy Ralph Steadman, 139 00:14:15,605 --> 00:14:19,066 who was a British cartoonist whose work I'd seen many times, 140 00:14:19,067 --> 00:14:21,943 very evil-minded, twisted kind of guy. 141 00:14:21,944 --> 00:14:25,739 And so we dragged him to Kentucky 142 00:14:25,740 --> 00:14:30,410 and they ended up going through this haze of alcohol and drugs, madness, 143 00:14:30,411 --> 00:14:34,757 and so they became part of the story themselves. 144 00:14:39,921 --> 00:14:41,880 The next day was heavy. 145 00:14:41,881 --> 00:14:45,425 With 30 hours to post time, I had no press credentials, 146 00:14:45,426 --> 00:14:48,637 and according to the sports editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal, 147 00:14:48,638 --> 00:14:50,811 no hope at all of getting any. 148 00:14:52,809 --> 00:14:55,310 Worse, I needed two sets. 149 00:14:55,311 --> 00:14:57,813 One for myself and another for Ralph Steadman, 150 00:14:57,814 --> 00:15:00,399 the English illustrator who was coming all the way from London 151 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:02,698 to do some derby drawings. 152 00:15:05,071 --> 00:15:09,866 All I knew about him was that this was his first visit to the United States, 153 00:15:09,867 --> 00:15:13,912 and the more I pondered that fact, the more it gave me fear. 154 00:15:13,913 --> 00:15:16,248 Would he bear up under the heinous culture shock 155 00:15:16,249 --> 00:15:17,916 of being lifted out of London 156 00:15:17,917 --> 00:15:22,513 and plunged into a drunken mob scene at the Kentucky Derby? 157 00:15:23,714 --> 00:15:26,967 We had to find each other, as it were. 158 00:15:26,968 --> 00:15:29,687 Oh, God. Where is he? 159 00:15:33,474 --> 00:15:39,646 Eventually, I heard this voice behind me saying, 160 00:15:39,647 --> 00:15:41,990 "Excuse me. 161 00:15:42,733 --> 00:15:46,407 "Are you... Are you Ralph Steadman?" 162 00:15:54,245 --> 00:15:56,918 He said, "Would you like a drink?" 163 00:15:57,665 --> 00:16:00,964 Anyway, we went on this binge for a week. 164 00:16:04,964 --> 00:16:07,757 I was making notes and drawing. 165 00:16:07,758 --> 00:16:13,054 Hunter said, "It's a filthy habit you've got there, scribbling dark pictures. 166 00:16:13,055 --> 00:16:16,354 "And around these parts that's an insult." 167 00:16:16,726 --> 00:16:20,526 He said, "I've got a horrible feeling we're gonna have to get out of here." 168 00:16:24,650 --> 00:16:29,280 From that point on, the weekend became a vicious drunken nightmare. 169 00:16:31,073 --> 00:16:33,575 We both went completely to pieces, 170 00:16:33,576 --> 00:16:37,204 and since poor Steadman had no choice but to take what came his way, 171 00:16:37,205 --> 00:16:40,083 he was subjected to shock after shock. 172 00:16:44,587 --> 00:16:47,339 We sort of went along with whatever happened, 173 00:16:47,340 --> 00:16:49,257 and we'd made that agreement 174 00:16:49,258 --> 00:16:52,093 with ourselves, you know, between each other. 175 00:16:52,094 --> 00:16:54,346 "That's what we do. We just go and see what happens." 176 00:16:54,347 --> 00:16:57,225 "I'll do the drawings, you write," you know? 177 00:17:03,981 --> 00:17:07,906 So that became the beginning of Gonzo. 178 00:17:21,832 --> 00:17:23,875 Now, looking down from the press box, 179 00:17:23,876 --> 00:17:27,796 I pointed to the huge grassy meadow enclosed by the track. 180 00:17:27,797 --> 00:17:30,757 "That whole thing," I said, "will be jammed with people, 181 00:17:30,758 --> 00:17:34,010 "50,000 or so, most of them staggering drunk. 182 00:17:34,011 --> 00:17:37,305 "It's a fantastic scene, thousands of people fainting, 183 00:17:37,306 --> 00:17:42,312 "crying, copulating, trampling each other and fighting with broken whiskey bottles." 184 00:18:00,663 --> 00:18:02,163 I think what he saw, 185 00:18:02,164 --> 00:18:05,584 in our connection, was somebody that somehow 186 00:18:05,585 --> 00:18:08,837 saw the thing in pictures as he saw it in words, you know. 187 00:18:08,838 --> 00:18:12,882 And that seemed to me to be part of the whole chemistry of it, 188 00:18:12,883 --> 00:18:16,136 that our chemistry there made Gonzo possible. 189 00:18:18,347 --> 00:18:20,432 "What I'm trying to find," he said, Hunter, 190 00:18:20,433 --> 00:18:25,188 "is a certain kind of Kentucky face, the face of the Kentucky Derby." 191 00:18:27,565 --> 00:18:31,526 And the point is that by the end of the week, 192 00:18:31,527 --> 00:18:33,236 the very face we were looking for 193 00:18:33,237 --> 00:18:37,207 was us looking back at ourselves in the mirror. 194 00:18:43,873 --> 00:18:46,796 - I don't recognize anyone anymore. - Yeah. 195 00:18:56,302 --> 00:19:00,352 What I in fact had done, without realizing it, 196 00:19:00,556 --> 00:19:04,643 - was scored a bull's-eye first time... - Yeah. 197 00:19:04,644 --> 00:19:06,686 on my first visit to America. 198 00:19:06,687 --> 00:19:12,651 I mean, I met up with the one man I needed to meet in all the world, 199 00:19:12,652 --> 00:19:17,077 - in the whole of America, to work with. - Yeah. 200 00:19:24,038 --> 00:19:28,291 I got very depressed when I got back on the plane to England, 201 00:19:28,292 --> 00:19:30,960 because I was going to have to go back 202 00:19:30,961 --> 00:19:35,340 to a completely conventional cartoon job. 203 00:19:35,341 --> 00:19:40,347 And that really didn't fill me with much happiness. 204 00:20:06,747 --> 00:20:09,290 Let's go, Beanie. 205 00:20:09,291 --> 00:20:11,793 Now, take it easy. 206 00:20:32,857 --> 00:20:37,078 A bit... Ever so free. 207 00:21:35,503 --> 00:21:37,962 A phone call came and it was Hunter. 208 00:21:37,963 --> 00:21:39,923 "Ralph, I've got this manuscript. 209 00:21:39,924 --> 00:21:44,469 "Could you do us a dozen drawings of something that could go with it?" 210 00:21:44,470 --> 00:21:46,392 "Well," I said, "I'll try." 211 00:21:52,436 --> 00:21:55,985 And I just set about it. 212 00:21:56,649 --> 00:21:58,817 Got myself some booze as well, 213 00:21:58,818 --> 00:22:03,243 'cause I seemed to need to be a bit drunk to do it, you know. 214 00:22:08,869 --> 00:22:11,496 I did about a dozen drawings, 215 00:22:11,497 --> 00:22:14,716 rolled them up in a tube and sent them off. 216 00:22:31,100 --> 00:22:34,435 "We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert 217 00:22:34,436 --> 00:22:36,771 "when the drugs began to take hold. 218 00:22:36,772 --> 00:22:38,523 "I remember saying something like, 219 00:22:38,524 --> 00:22:42,026 "'I feel a bit light-headed. Maybe you should drive.' 220 00:22:42,027 --> 00:22:44,904 "And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us 221 00:22:44,905 --> 00:22:48,408 "and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, 222 00:22:48,409 --> 00:22:51,995 "all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, 223 00:22:51,996 --> 00:22:53,746 "which was going about 100 miles an hour 224 00:22:53,747 --> 00:22:57,467 "with the top down to Las Vegas." 225 00:23:03,924 --> 00:23:05,925 When Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas came out, 226 00:23:05,926 --> 00:23:07,844 I think people were stunned by it. 227 00:23:07,845 --> 00:23:10,138 I mean, nobody had really seen anything like that. 228 00:23:10,139 --> 00:23:13,725 It was a full-out celebration of the most outrageous kind of behavior, 229 00:23:13,726 --> 00:23:16,228 and then it was so... 230 00:23:16,645 --> 00:23:22,026 Funny and dangerous and eccentric and wild. 231 00:23:23,068 --> 00:23:27,072 Looks like it's gonna be a classic of 20th century literature. 232 00:23:36,165 --> 00:23:38,917 So you're down on the main floor playing blackjack 233 00:23:38,918 --> 00:23:41,796 and the stakes are getting high. 234 00:23:43,380 --> 00:23:45,423 When suddenly you chance to look up 235 00:23:45,424 --> 00:23:47,383 and there, right smack above your head, 236 00:23:47,384 --> 00:23:49,302 is a half-naked 14-year-old girl 237 00:23:49,303 --> 00:23:52,972 being chased through the air by a snarling Wolverine, 238 00:23:52,973 --> 00:23:57,393 which is suddenly locked in a death battle with two silver-painted Polacks, 239 00:23:57,394 --> 00:24:00,396 who come swinging down from opposite balconies 240 00:24:00,397 --> 00:24:04,197 and meet in mid-air on the wolverine's neck. 241 00:24:11,575 --> 00:24:13,993 And no one had seen anything like this before, 242 00:24:13,994 --> 00:24:16,997 certainly not in American illustration. 243 00:24:17,831 --> 00:24:20,541 And the pictures really weren't about the story, 244 00:24:20,542 --> 00:24:23,628 but they were a reflection of the story, 245 00:24:23,629 --> 00:24:26,757 of what was in Hunter's mind. 246 00:24:34,807 --> 00:24:38,777 The casino scene, with all the lizards, the hitchhiker... 247 00:24:39,103 --> 00:24:43,231 I mean, those things just have a life of their own, 248 00:24:43,232 --> 00:24:46,234 because they're accompanied by all this literature with it 249 00:24:46,235 --> 00:24:49,821 and whole stories that go with each illustration, 250 00:24:49,822 --> 00:24:54,075 or illustrations to go with each story, 251 00:24:54,076 --> 00:24:57,170 depending on which point of view you take. 252 00:25:01,959 --> 00:25:04,252 I wanted to get it out of my system. 253 00:25:04,253 --> 00:25:08,214 It was something that was just lying there waiting to erupt. 254 00:25:08,215 --> 00:25:10,433 So it was a bit like being sick. 255 00:25:14,888 --> 00:25:17,140 I threw the pictures down 256 00:25:17,141 --> 00:25:20,393 and they worked because they were about something specific, 257 00:25:20,394 --> 00:25:24,939 but they allowed me a complete freedom to do... 258 00:25:24,940 --> 00:25:26,737 it was as though I was there. 259 00:25:31,780 --> 00:25:34,123 Are we marking? 260 00:25:34,908 --> 00:25:40,163 Do you feel like your lack of drug-taking ever affected, 261 00:25:40,164 --> 00:25:42,331 had an effect on your relationship with Hunter? 262 00:25:42,332 --> 00:25:44,625 No, no, in fact, it was better that way. 263 00:25:44,626 --> 00:25:47,378 It was better that we were like chalk and cheese. 264 00:25:47,379 --> 00:25:52,476 I mean, the whole idea of me being like him would have been ridiculous. 265 00:25:52,801 --> 00:25:55,053 Hunter, it's me! 266 00:25:55,054 --> 00:25:58,473 Because he was someone entirely different. 267 00:25:58,474 --> 00:26:01,434 We didn't necessarily see eye to eye. 268 00:26:01,435 --> 00:26:06,189 We had entirely different experiences of life. 269 00:26:06,190 --> 00:26:11,947 And to him I was weird, and to me he was weird. 270 00:26:12,738 --> 00:26:15,115 Nice to see you. 271 00:26:26,460 --> 00:26:28,962 Can I get some water? 272 00:26:30,422 --> 00:26:32,970 - Right, you ready? - Okay. 273 00:26:34,968 --> 00:26:37,011 I like that. 274 00:26:37,012 --> 00:26:39,430 - Did you get that? - Great. 275 00:26:39,431 --> 00:26:42,725 Oh, dear. I like that one. 276 00:26:42,726 --> 00:26:44,769 Well, this is cartridge paper. 277 00:26:44,770 --> 00:26:47,980 It's a good-quality, very thick cartridge paper. 278 00:26:47,981 --> 00:26:51,234 And this is Indian ink. 279 00:26:51,902 --> 00:26:53,277 I like a brush... 280 00:26:53,278 --> 00:26:55,655 For that kind of a stroke, 281 00:26:55,656 --> 00:26:58,616 I couldn't have done it with this one, for instance, 282 00:26:58,617 --> 00:27:01,744 which is less weight. 283 00:27:01,745 --> 00:27:05,414 But it might do something, and it's lovely. 284 00:27:05,415 --> 00:27:07,633 I love it, what it does. 285 00:27:08,001 --> 00:27:09,710 And I might do another one down there. 286 00:27:09,711 --> 00:27:14,090 And the way I flick, you just simply have a flick of the wrist, 287 00:27:14,091 --> 00:27:17,811 which is a sort of a proper semicircle, in a way. 288 00:27:18,220 --> 00:27:20,221 And then I've got this here, you know, 289 00:27:20,222 --> 00:27:24,443 and I could take some of this and go... 290 00:27:27,354 --> 00:27:31,654 Then I could, for instance... 291 00:27:34,987 --> 00:27:37,489 An eye in there. 292 00:27:37,698 --> 00:27:41,200 And I like the idea of an eye in there 293 00:27:41,201 --> 00:27:46,252 and a sense of some face that's happening there. 294 00:27:48,792 --> 00:27:53,138 And I blow like so. 295 00:27:57,384 --> 00:27:59,477 And things happen. 296 00:28:19,364 --> 00:28:20,956 What are you doing right now? 297 00:28:21,450 --> 00:28:26,421 Well, I'm pulling away the gesso from underneath the color. 298 00:28:27,789 --> 00:28:32,043 I think perhaps, you know, art is just tricks, really. 299 00:28:32,044 --> 00:28:34,503 In a way, I don't know what there is there. 300 00:28:34,504 --> 00:28:36,672 I mean, it's only a... 301 00:28:36,673 --> 00:28:42,637 it started out as a blank sheet of paper and it's become more than that. 302 00:28:42,638 --> 00:28:46,267 - There's an event going on in there. - Yeah. 303 00:28:46,767 --> 00:28:49,269 That's rather nice. 304 00:28:50,812 --> 00:28:52,021 Take Francis Bacon. 305 00:28:52,022 --> 00:28:56,776 He always seemed to manage to make his pictures look like an event, 306 00:28:56,777 --> 00:28:59,904 even though they were not necessarily 307 00:28:59,905 --> 00:29:03,407 specifically of somebody. 308 00:29:03,408 --> 00:29:10,331 But he brought excitement into an area that was apparently, at first glance, nothing. 309 00:29:10,332 --> 00:29:14,877 And I found that to be pretty amazing, really. 310 00:29:14,878 --> 00:29:20,508 Do you make any use of preliminary studies or sketches of any sort? 311 00:29:20,509 --> 00:29:22,009 Yes, I do. 312 00:29:22,010 --> 00:29:28,266 But after that, chance and what I call accident takes over, 313 00:29:28,267 --> 00:29:33,938 when consciously I don't know what I'm doing. 314 00:29:33,939 --> 00:29:36,190 At that moment, I'm thinking of nothing 315 00:29:36,191 --> 00:29:40,987 but how hopeless and impossible this thing is to achieve. 316 00:29:40,988 --> 00:29:46,117 Suddenly there comes something which your instinct seizes on 317 00:29:46,118 --> 00:29:50,623 as being for a moment the thing by which it could begin to develop. 318 00:29:57,504 --> 00:30:00,506 What that is, in fact, is stop-out. 319 00:30:00,507 --> 00:30:05,344 If I blow more color over that, then I rub it, 320 00:30:05,345 --> 00:30:10,817 and it pulls this stuff off with the color and leaves the paper still where it was. 321 00:30:11,601 --> 00:30:14,524 So I'll just do this. 322 00:30:17,983 --> 00:30:22,069 But also I'm worried about going too far with that 323 00:30:22,070 --> 00:30:24,530 and completely losing it, you know. 324 00:30:24,531 --> 00:30:28,035 - Sure. - I'd like to leave it for a bit, I think. 325 00:30:34,458 --> 00:30:40,546 The most enigmatic and inquiring artist 326 00:30:40,547 --> 00:30:44,017 that ever lived would be Rembrandt, 327 00:30:45,510 --> 00:30:48,888 who took it upon himself to do 328 00:30:48,889 --> 00:30:51,265 self-portrait after self-portrait 329 00:30:51,266 --> 00:30:54,519 in the process of getting older. 330 00:30:56,938 --> 00:30:59,565 It was the most undecorative idea, 331 00:30:59,566 --> 00:31:01,817 taking yourself 332 00:31:01,818 --> 00:31:04,741 and watching yourself grow old, 333 00:31:05,739 --> 00:31:10,117 and give us an animation of his aging 334 00:31:10,118 --> 00:31:15,044 in beautiful paintings, great self-portraits. 335 00:31:16,416 --> 00:31:21,587 It was the most scintillating intellectual exercise 336 00:31:21,588 --> 00:31:23,931 that one could imagine. 337 00:31:46,279 --> 00:31:47,947 Now what I'm gonna do is, 338 00:31:47,948 --> 00:31:52,618 'cause on there, there's all this lovely masking fluid, 339 00:31:52,619 --> 00:31:54,495 and this is the only thing that will take it off, 340 00:31:54,496 --> 00:31:57,374 which is masking fluid gone solid. 341 00:32:00,001 --> 00:32:02,128 What's underneath there? 342 00:32:02,129 --> 00:32:05,473 And this coming out now. You're watching this? 343 00:32:08,885 --> 00:32:14,016 Some sort of substantial sort of 344 00:32:15,851 --> 00:32:20,857 place exists beyond the skyline. 345 00:32:22,858 --> 00:32:25,609 I find this funny, because even amongst all the great details, 346 00:32:25,610 --> 00:32:29,488 there's precision in your work, but you're still very, very playful. 347 00:32:29,489 --> 00:32:32,491 Well, it's 'cause I'm not very professional. 348 00:32:32,492 --> 00:32:35,578 I don't go out of my way to be professional. 349 00:32:35,579 --> 00:32:37,913 I go out of my way to try and make something 350 00:32:37,914 --> 00:32:42,835 that is as unexpected to me as it is to anyone else, you know? 351 00:32:42,836 --> 00:32:44,963 That's perfect. 352 00:32:50,719 --> 00:32:56,015 I think, most importantly, Picasso has been the biggest influence of all, 353 00:32:56,016 --> 00:33:02,521 because of his continuing persistent creative daily life. 354 00:33:02,522 --> 00:33:08,119 The way he made his life into the reason for his living every day. 355 00:33:08,862 --> 00:33:12,907 And it gave me a purpose, too, in a strange kind of way, 356 00:33:12,908 --> 00:33:15,743 and a sense of, "God, is there anything on that piece of paper?" 357 00:33:15,744 --> 00:33:17,703 "Anything can be there." 358 00:33:17,704 --> 00:33:22,880 And Picasso proved it day after day after day after day. 359 00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:38,265 He convinced me that the thing I can do is 360 00:33:38,266 --> 00:33:41,268 simply start a drawing 361 00:33:41,269 --> 00:33:43,729 and it will come out the other end somehow. 362 00:33:43,730 --> 00:33:46,524 And I won't know how it's going to come out completely, 363 00:33:46,525 --> 00:33:49,443 but that's the fascination. 364 00:33:49,444 --> 00:33:52,788 That makes it a worthwhile pursuit. 365 00:33:54,574 --> 00:33:57,076 If I knew what was going to happen before I started, 366 00:33:57,077 --> 00:33:59,955 what would be the point of doing it? 367 00:34:01,748 --> 00:34:06,754 If you surprise yourself still, you really could have a good trip. 368 00:34:36,491 --> 00:34:37,950 Well, the phone rang. 369 00:34:37,951 --> 00:34:40,911 "Ralph, this is Hunter." 370 00:34:40,912 --> 00:34:45,583 "So they seem to have liked the Kentucky Derby piece 371 00:34:45,584 --> 00:34:47,960 "and they want us to do something else, you know. 372 00:34:47,961 --> 00:34:51,088 "They want us to go to Zaire 373 00:34:51,089 --> 00:34:53,507 "and cover the Ali/Foreman fight, 374 00:34:53,508 --> 00:34:55,635 "the Rumble in the Jungle." 375 00:34:55,677 --> 00:34:59,397 So I said, "Yes, Hunter, I think that would be very nice." 376 00:35:05,186 --> 00:35:08,939 I flew from London and I arrived in Zaire, 377 00:35:08,940 --> 00:35:11,984 and the first thing I noticed when I got off the plane 378 00:35:11,985 --> 00:35:13,532 was the blanket of heat. 379 00:35:26,625 --> 00:35:28,375 The first thing Hunter did 380 00:35:28,376 --> 00:35:30,711 was to go out and buy himself 381 00:35:30,712 --> 00:35:34,216 a massive bag of grass. 382 00:35:35,133 --> 00:35:39,012 And I thought to myself, "I'm not gonna enjoy this." 383 00:35:46,895 --> 00:35:49,313 The phone rang and it was Hunter. 384 00:35:49,314 --> 00:35:52,107 "Ralph, got a great story. 385 00:35:52,108 --> 00:35:54,401 "Cover the America's Cup in Rhode island." 386 00:35:54,402 --> 00:35:57,906 And I said, "Well, I don't really like boats." 387 00:36:00,158 --> 00:36:01,659 So when we got there, 388 00:36:01,660 --> 00:36:05,790 the weather was so bad, the race was off. 389 00:36:11,169 --> 00:36:13,922 I got a call from him. "Ralph, this is Hunter here." 390 00:36:14,005 --> 00:36:16,678 "How do you feel about doing another story?" 391 00:36:17,509 --> 00:36:19,802 Sorry. "Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, 392 00:36:19,803 --> 00:36:22,388 "care of General Delivery, Woody Creek, Colorado, 393 00:36:22,389 --> 00:36:24,482 "It was May 23, 1980." 394 00:36:25,225 --> 00:36:26,266 "Dear Hunter, 395 00:36:26,267 --> 00:36:28,895 "we would like you to cover the Honolulu Marathon." 396 00:36:29,062 --> 00:36:32,564 "We will pay all expenses and an excellent fee." 397 00:36:32,565 --> 00:36:35,944 "Think about it. This is a good chance for a vacation." 398 00:36:36,486 --> 00:36:38,329 Feels nice. 399 00:36:42,075 --> 00:36:43,867 And the idea was 400 00:36:43,868 --> 00:36:46,036 Hunter and I would come out of the chocks, 401 00:36:46,037 --> 00:36:48,288 "shoulder to shoulder," as he put it, you know, 402 00:36:48,289 --> 00:36:53,465 and run as fast as hell, obviously leaving people behind. 403 00:36:54,087 --> 00:36:58,308 And a truck would pick us up and take us the rest of the way, you see. 404 00:37:00,844 --> 00:37:02,720 George Foreman, I will bruise him up. 405 00:37:02,721 --> 00:37:05,347 If I don't knock him out, I will cut him all up. 406 00:37:05,348 --> 00:37:08,067 Nicks and cuts all over his face. 407 00:37:09,185 --> 00:37:11,603 On the eighth floor of the Intercontinental, 408 00:37:11,604 --> 00:37:14,903 George Foreman would go walking with the dog. 409 00:37:22,490 --> 00:37:24,783 I came up with another idea. 410 00:37:24,784 --> 00:37:28,370 Why don't we go in amongst the two boats, 411 00:37:28,371 --> 00:37:31,081 the Gretel and the Intrepid, 412 00:37:31,082 --> 00:37:34,793 and I write something, with a spray can, on the side of one of the boats? 413 00:37:34,794 --> 00:37:37,087 He said, "What are you gonna write, Ralph?" 414 00:37:37,088 --> 00:37:41,434 I said, "Well, I thought of writing 'Fuck the Pope.'" 415 00:37:46,598 --> 00:37:50,559 And we waited for the people who were by this time knackered. 416 00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:53,279 Then we'd be there to jeer. 417 00:37:55,190 --> 00:37:58,785 "Run, you bastard, run!" we would shout. 418 00:37:59,694 --> 00:38:04,656 They went, "You filthy buggers! No sportsmanship in you." 419 00:38:04,657 --> 00:38:07,826 We'd gone there to screw the race up. 420 00:38:07,827 --> 00:38:09,661 It's an awful thing to do. 421 00:38:09,662 --> 00:38:13,757 I mean, this is the mean face of Gonzo. 422 00:38:18,463 --> 00:38:22,968 Hunter said, "Are you ready for this?" I said, "Yes." 423 00:38:23,718 --> 00:38:27,721 And you know when you take a spray can, you have to shake it. 424 00:38:27,722 --> 00:38:29,723 And there's a little ball, so you've got this, 425 00:38:29,724 --> 00:38:31,058 "Click, click, click..." 426 00:38:31,059 --> 00:38:34,812 I heard somebody say, "What are you guys doing down there?" 427 00:38:34,813 --> 00:38:37,105 And Hunter said, "God, pigs." 428 00:38:37,106 --> 00:38:39,817 "We've failed. We must flee." 429 00:38:39,818 --> 00:38:42,903 And he brought out Leary flares, 430 00:38:42,904 --> 00:38:46,865 which you only use in times of distress in the middle of an ocean, 431 00:38:46,866 --> 00:38:50,077 which he set off in the harbor, 432 00:38:50,078 --> 00:38:54,879 and some of them fell onto boats and that caused mayhem. 433 00:39:03,675 --> 00:39:06,218 I said to Hunter, "When are we going to the fight?" 434 00:39:06,219 --> 00:39:10,064 "We're not, Ralph. I sold the tickets." "What?" 435 00:39:11,015 --> 00:39:14,852 He went down to the pool, threw the grass into the pool 436 00:39:14,853 --> 00:39:17,401 and dived straight into it. 437 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:20,816 We couldn't go and see the fight. 438 00:39:20,817 --> 00:39:23,777 The only way I could go and see it was on television, 439 00:39:23,778 --> 00:39:25,871 which I did in the bar. 440 00:39:30,577 --> 00:39:31,952 The moment the fight was over, 441 00:39:31,953 --> 00:39:35,998 everybody just wanted to get out of Zaire. 442 00:39:35,999 --> 00:39:38,843 "We must get out of here. We must flee." 443 00:39:44,340 --> 00:39:46,466 It's a good way to do stuff, for no good reason. 444 00:39:46,467 --> 00:39:47,885 Another of Hunter's phrases. 445 00:39:47,886 --> 00:39:52,812 "Why are we doing this, Hunter?" "For no good reason, Ralph." 446 00:39:56,311 --> 00:39:58,395 What I seem to have become 447 00:39:58,396 --> 00:40:04,494 is a kind of visual chronicler of a part of Hunter. 448 00:40:04,903 --> 00:40:07,279 I had personified him. 449 00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:10,449 That was like a comic character. 450 00:40:10,450 --> 00:40:15,037 He'd got a cigarette holder. Had to have it. It was part of the outfit. 451 00:40:15,038 --> 00:40:19,884 And he had all those things and I gave them all to him. 452 00:40:26,341 --> 00:40:28,216 'Cause he didn't like the idea 453 00:40:28,217 --> 00:40:33,513 that anyone was going to outwit him in any way, 454 00:40:33,514 --> 00:40:35,557 you know, that he would... 455 00:40:35,558 --> 00:40:40,063 He's in charge. He's the writer. I'm just an artist. 456 00:40:40,188 --> 00:40:41,480 I'm Edward. 457 00:40:41,481 --> 00:40:44,566 He has a bird called Edward, such a marvelous character... 458 00:40:44,567 --> 00:40:46,026 I think Hunter tormented it, 459 00:40:46,027 --> 00:40:48,528 but I think there was a kind of two-way affection 460 00:40:48,529 --> 00:40:49,655 or something going on. 461 00:40:49,656 --> 00:40:52,454 Edward, talk to me. No? 462 00:40:52,825 --> 00:40:55,786 Hunter would use it, I think, to bounce off, you know. 463 00:40:55,787 --> 00:40:57,621 He'd use it as a kind of victim, you know, 464 00:40:57,622 --> 00:41:02,376 something to bring into the story and how he was feeling about it, 465 00:41:02,377 --> 00:41:03,460 who was the bird. 466 00:41:03,461 --> 00:41:07,386 I suppose at some point I, in a way, became the bird, you know. 467 00:41:13,346 --> 00:41:15,393 Now. 468 00:41:15,765 --> 00:41:19,485 Now we're going to talk, Edward. Speak to me. Yes. 469 00:41:21,771 --> 00:41:24,064 I feel like Edward sometimes, in a situation, 470 00:41:24,065 --> 00:41:26,733 I feel absolutely taken apart, 471 00:41:26,734 --> 00:41:30,028 as though he's had a whole session of talking to me, you know, 472 00:41:30,029 --> 00:41:33,658 holding me like a bird and I'm trying to bite my way out of it. 473 00:41:34,283 --> 00:41:36,877 And that was our relationship, actually. 474 00:41:38,955 --> 00:41:42,959 It was ill-treatment, you know, that he gave me. 475 00:41:44,836 --> 00:41:47,796 Speak up, Edward, speak up. Speak up! Talk to me! 476 00:41:47,797 --> 00:41:51,508 He could be an absolute son of a bitch, you know, 477 00:41:51,509 --> 00:41:58,358 and left me sometimes in a right state. 478 00:43:53,381 --> 00:43:55,966 The basis of Ralph and Hunter's friendship 479 00:43:55,967 --> 00:43:59,803 was that they saw kindred spirits in each other. 480 00:43:59,804 --> 00:44:02,430 I think that the difference was that 481 00:44:02,431 --> 00:44:06,606 Hunter realized that Ralph was crazier than him. 482 00:44:07,311 --> 00:44:10,438 Ralph was willing to go to extremes that Hunter was not willing to, 483 00:44:10,439 --> 00:44:13,775 and you'd think Hunter would be the one who was the, you know, 484 00:44:13,776 --> 00:44:15,569 more outrageous and reckless 485 00:44:15,570 --> 00:44:17,946 and the one who would go out on a limb on something. 486 00:44:17,947 --> 00:44:19,406 But Ralph was the one who'd actually go there. 487 00:44:19,407 --> 00:44:21,825 I'm not talking about physical safety. 488 00:44:21,826 --> 00:44:25,495 But I'm talking about sort of, you know, 489 00:44:25,496 --> 00:44:30,792 mental, moral, philosophical, 490 00:44:30,793 --> 00:44:33,216 take a chance with your own work. 491 00:44:54,025 --> 00:44:56,484 I think America is where 492 00:44:56,485 --> 00:45:00,831 all that was going wrong in the world was being nurtured. 493 00:45:04,118 --> 00:45:06,661 Blast the hell out of North Vietnam... 494 00:45:06,662 --> 00:45:08,205 - Do you agree? - Absolutely. 495 00:45:08,206 --> 00:45:13,543 If anything, before the election, we're gonna bomb more, believe me. 496 00:45:13,544 --> 00:45:16,004 It seemed to me they needed attacking. 497 00:45:16,005 --> 00:45:20,050 It was something that absolutely had to be done. 498 00:45:20,051 --> 00:45:25,347 So it had fallen to me to do this. 499 00:45:25,348 --> 00:45:28,558 It was my duty to change the world. 500 00:45:28,559 --> 00:45:31,311 I'd always thought I wanted to change the world. 501 00:45:31,312 --> 00:45:33,780 Now was the moment. 502 00:45:47,119 --> 00:45:50,664 Ralph was willing to say anything about anybody. 503 00:45:50,665 --> 00:45:53,875 I mean, his moral sensibility was affronted 504 00:45:53,876 --> 00:45:57,175 and he would just say so, he wouldn't stop. 505 00:45:57,964 --> 00:46:01,513 And thus in a certain sense insane, 506 00:46:02,218 --> 00:46:06,179 willing to, you know, go to the limits of what was appropriate, 507 00:46:06,180 --> 00:46:08,598 beyond the limits of what was appropriate and what was sanity, 508 00:46:08,599 --> 00:46:10,225 and dangerous in that way. 509 00:46:14,105 --> 00:46:18,191 Because people have gotta know whether or not their president's a crook. 510 00:46:18,192 --> 00:46:19,989 Well, I'm not a crook. 511 00:46:23,447 --> 00:46:28,994 I had found my voice and I wasn't at all afraid anymore. 512 00:46:28,995 --> 00:46:33,375 I was going to use it as a weapon. 513 00:46:52,143 --> 00:46:55,145 One continually lives in hope 514 00:46:55,146 --> 00:46:59,691 and that you are coming along as a sort of knight in shining armor 515 00:46:59,692 --> 00:47:01,776 and you're going to do your best. 516 00:47:01,777 --> 00:47:04,904 In a way, you're being rather self-righteous. 517 00:47:04,905 --> 00:47:09,409 But be proud of the fact that you are attempting to put right 518 00:47:09,410 --> 00:47:11,912 what really is wrong. 519 00:47:23,215 --> 00:47:25,759 Since then Steadman has gone back and forth, 520 00:47:25,760 --> 00:47:28,928 contributing regularly to the pages of Rolling Stone magazine, 521 00:47:28,929 --> 00:47:31,389 recording some of the significant political events 522 00:47:31,390 --> 00:47:33,475 and personalities of American life. 523 00:47:33,476 --> 00:47:35,060 His output is prolific. 524 00:47:35,061 --> 00:47:39,031 He even writes Rolling Stone's occasional gardening column. 525 00:47:39,732 --> 00:47:41,775 Yeah, I wanted to write. 526 00:47:41,776 --> 00:47:43,485 Really? 527 00:47:43,486 --> 00:47:47,614 And having Hunter saying to me, "Don't write, Ralph. 528 00:47:47,615 --> 00:47:50,742 "You'll bring shame on your family." 529 00:47:50,743 --> 00:47:54,247 That spurred me on and I thought, "No, bugger you." 530 00:47:57,208 --> 00:48:01,838 She's my love 531 00:48:03,089 --> 00:48:07,509 She's my life 532 00:48:07,510 --> 00:48:12,639 It's really such a pity that she's someone else's wife 533 00:48:12,640 --> 00:48:16,940 She's my love... 534 00:48:18,979 --> 00:48:22,107 Thank you for ringing. I'm not here at the moment. 535 00:48:22,108 --> 00:48:28,331 I'm busy writing a book and I'll ring you later. Thanks. 536 00:48:51,512 --> 00:48:54,597 I need a couple of drinks, actually, to start on this, really do. 537 00:48:54,598 --> 00:48:56,641 What is the time now, by the way? 538 00:48:56,642 --> 00:48:58,314 - 12:00. - Right. 539 00:49:02,314 --> 00:49:05,900 The task I set myself was filled with such challenge 540 00:49:05,901 --> 00:49:09,279 that I feared the very touching of the wall. 541 00:49:09,280 --> 00:49:12,365 At times I was overcome with desperate fear 542 00:49:12,366 --> 00:49:16,621 and dared not mar the whiteness there before me. 543 00:49:23,043 --> 00:49:27,589 And I began to paint upon the wall itself on 6th June, 1505, 544 00:49:27,590 --> 00:49:30,889 at the stroke of the 13th hour. 545 00:49:30,968 --> 00:49:34,012 At the moment of putting the brush upon the wall, 546 00:49:34,013 --> 00:49:38,563 the skies darkened and the bells started to toll. 547 00:49:40,394 --> 00:49:43,354 Leonardo da Vinci was a genius. 548 00:49:43,355 --> 00:49:46,441 In fact, Sigmund Freud said 549 00:49:46,442 --> 00:49:49,240 he was the man who woke up in the dark. 550 00:49:53,365 --> 00:49:56,784 I thought, "Am I knowledgeable enough to know anything 551 00:49:56,785 --> 00:49:59,662 "about such a man as Leonardo da Vinci?" 552 00:49:59,663 --> 00:50:01,915 There must be loads of people around 553 00:50:01,916 --> 00:50:04,209 who have done books about Leonardo da Vinci. 554 00:50:04,210 --> 00:50:08,838 And I found there were more than most people have ever been written about. 555 00:50:08,839 --> 00:50:14,095 So how can I possibly write a book that was different? 556 00:50:14,762 --> 00:50:16,930 How many books have you read about Leonardo? 557 00:50:16,931 --> 00:50:19,307 I suppose I've been through about 50, 558 00:50:19,308 --> 00:50:24,564 and I'm none the wiser. I don't know a damn thing. 559 00:50:26,357 --> 00:50:28,691 About halfway through I suddenly thought, 560 00:50:28,692 --> 00:50:31,903 "What if I call myself 'I, Leonardo'?" 561 00:50:31,904 --> 00:50:34,406 And so I became Leonardo. 562 00:50:37,660 --> 00:50:40,663 It was 16th of December, 1982. 563 00:50:41,580 --> 00:50:44,799 The angle for my book on Leonardo da Vinci. 564 00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:48,379 I would write it in the first person. 565 00:50:48,671 --> 00:50:51,890 I would look through his eyes. 566 00:50:52,132 --> 00:50:55,176 Only I will know what it felt like. 567 00:50:55,177 --> 00:50:57,600 No experts can tell me. 568 00:51:01,308 --> 00:51:03,643 This allows me artistic license 569 00:51:03,644 --> 00:51:07,855 and affords me the luxury of telling my life story 570 00:51:07,856 --> 00:51:12,827 without all the doubt that accompanies most biographies about me. 571 00:51:25,165 --> 00:51:28,543 The reason I chose Leonardo as a subject 572 00:51:28,544 --> 00:51:31,754 was because of something he said, 573 00:51:31,755 --> 00:51:35,304 that genius was the capacity for taking pains. 574 00:51:37,720 --> 00:51:42,765 In a way I recognized something of me in him, 575 00:51:42,766 --> 00:51:49,649 that I was trying hard to be something rather special. 576 00:51:49,815 --> 00:51:52,275 And that's not swanky-ing about it. 577 00:51:52,276 --> 00:51:58,829 It's just trying to do something as definitively as I possibly could 578 00:51:58,866 --> 00:52:03,121 that served the purpose it was intended to serve. 579 00:52:08,876 --> 00:52:13,046 He was fascinated by why things worked 580 00:52:13,047 --> 00:52:15,506 and how interrelated they all were. 581 00:52:15,507 --> 00:52:20,888 Everything that he designed and invented 582 00:52:21,055 --> 00:52:26,061 were the result of thinking about life itself. 583 00:52:28,103 --> 00:52:32,273 I think the most significant thing that Leonardo did, 584 00:52:32,274 --> 00:52:34,233 that makes him so special, 585 00:52:34,234 --> 00:52:39,072 was that he came out with something that probably other people had dreamed of, 586 00:52:39,073 --> 00:52:42,042 and that was how to fly. 587 00:52:45,162 --> 00:52:47,664 I devised a simple flying harness 588 00:52:47,665 --> 00:52:51,876 whereby myself, or someone who might fit the harness willingly, 589 00:52:51,877 --> 00:52:55,472 would soar out from some eminence. 590 00:53:05,891 --> 00:53:09,060 The parachute invented by Leonardo 591 00:53:09,061 --> 00:53:13,031 would have been, you know, a triangular... Like a pyramid. 592 00:53:29,581 --> 00:53:34,177 But then he came out with a cleverer idea, which was the glider. 593 00:53:40,801 --> 00:53:42,218 It flies, 594 00:53:42,219 --> 00:53:44,392 but I don't. 595 00:53:51,437 --> 00:53:55,106 You know, I learned a lot from him. I learned a lot from... 596 00:53:55,107 --> 00:53:56,566 This is how I got an education. 597 00:53:56,567 --> 00:54:01,413 I didn't have an education before I started doing stuff. 598 00:54:02,823 --> 00:54:06,367 And, you know, I mean, I left school with zilch. 599 00:54:06,368 --> 00:54:08,165 Yeah. 600 00:54:27,514 --> 00:54:29,640 I went to Abergele Grammar School. 601 00:54:29,641 --> 00:54:33,020 The headmaster's name was D.B. Jones. 602 00:54:35,022 --> 00:54:38,617 He was such a sweet, gentle man. 603 00:54:40,277 --> 00:54:45,865 After D.B. Jones retired, we got a new headmaster, 604 00:54:45,866 --> 00:54:48,201 Dr. Hubert Hughes. 605 00:54:48,202 --> 00:54:52,789 He took over and authority became very important for him, 606 00:54:52,790 --> 00:54:55,292 and caning boys. 607 00:55:02,382 --> 00:55:07,386 My head is down because, in a peculiar way, 608 00:55:07,387 --> 00:55:10,807 I felt that school was in some ways 609 00:55:10,808 --> 00:55:14,519 a rather authoritative process. 610 00:55:14,520 --> 00:55:17,104 And that's when I coined a phrase which was, 611 00:55:17,105 --> 00:55:20,324 "Authority is the mask of violence." 612 00:55:27,074 --> 00:55:29,492 I can't stand bullies, 613 00:55:29,493 --> 00:55:31,244 and there have been so many of them 614 00:55:31,245 --> 00:55:33,663 and they've been always in positions of power. 615 00:55:33,664 --> 00:55:37,759 I'm afraid I find that frankly unforgivable. 616 00:55:40,003 --> 00:55:45,424 The desire to shock is also a way of getting back at authority. 617 00:55:45,425 --> 00:55:48,724 That idea that, "Righto, you owe me." 618 00:55:48,804 --> 00:55:52,890 You scared the living daylights out of me as a kid 619 00:55:52,891 --> 00:55:58,062 with your awful way of dealing with children and school. 620 00:55:58,063 --> 00:56:04,366 I was trying to hurt the thing that hurt me, if you like. 621 00:56:07,698 --> 00:56:14,620 It's the key to opening the door into my dark spirit inside 622 00:56:14,621 --> 00:56:16,163 and out comes 623 00:56:16,164 --> 00:56:19,458 the drawing that some people call vicious 624 00:56:19,459 --> 00:56:23,296 and all sorts of other names, or perceptive even. 625 00:56:23,297 --> 00:56:24,889 Sure. 626 00:56:25,132 --> 00:56:28,718 It's like a filter somewhere inside me 627 00:56:28,719 --> 00:56:32,346 that lets it through and onto paper, 628 00:56:32,347 --> 00:56:35,316 and the anger is expressed. 629 00:56:35,434 --> 00:56:38,352 It doesn't matter that I'm pleasant one minute 630 00:56:38,353 --> 00:56:41,564 and then I'm suddenly vitriolic the next. 631 00:56:41,565 --> 00:56:44,363 They go together. It's perfect. 632 00:57:17,643 --> 00:57:20,353 Well, this is a little booklet I put together 633 00:57:20,354 --> 00:57:22,730 to celebrate the 50th anniversary 634 00:57:22,731 --> 00:57:28,362 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 635 00:57:29,029 --> 00:57:32,624 And so it's introduced and illustrated by me. 636 00:57:35,160 --> 00:57:36,869 Article 1. 637 00:57:36,870 --> 00:57:40,706 All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. 638 00:57:40,707 --> 00:57:43,209 They are endowed with reason and conscience 639 00:57:43,210 --> 00:57:47,546 and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. 640 00:57:47,547 --> 00:57:49,507 Article 2. 641 00:57:49,508 --> 00:57:52,426 Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms 642 00:57:52,427 --> 00:57:54,512 set forth in this declaration. 643 00:57:54,513 --> 00:57:56,138 Article 3. 644 00:57:56,139 --> 00:58:00,815 Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. 645 00:58:00,894 --> 00:58:05,106 Article 4. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude. 646 00:58:05,107 --> 00:58:09,694 Article 5. No one shall be subject to torture or cruel... 647 00:58:09,695 --> 00:58:14,281 Article 6. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere 648 00:58:14,282 --> 00:58:17,660 as a person before the law. 649 00:58:17,661 --> 00:58:19,412 Article 7. 650 00:58:19,413 --> 00:58:21,080 All are equal before the law 651 00:58:21,081 --> 00:58:23,916 and are entitled without any discrimination... 652 00:58:23,917 --> 00:58:29,296 Nothing in this declaration may be interpreted as implying for any state, 653 00:58:29,297 --> 00:58:33,968 any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act 654 00:58:33,969 --> 00:58:36,187 aimed at the destruction... 655 00:58:58,994 --> 00:59:04,373 People actually had the balls, had the foresight, 656 00:59:04,374 --> 00:59:07,460 had the understanding of human nature, 657 00:59:07,461 --> 00:59:12,131 to say, "We don't just talk about it. We write it down." 658 00:59:12,132 --> 00:59:16,978 Then we remind ourselves of what human rights are. 659 00:59:26,063 --> 00:59:28,773 What I'll try to do is draw things 660 00:59:28,774 --> 00:59:33,527 because I'm angry at these people who are cheated and swindled. 661 00:59:33,528 --> 00:59:37,749 That's who my enemy is. That's my object, 662 00:59:37,783 --> 00:59:41,583 the object of my protest. 663 00:59:44,539 --> 00:59:47,833 I just wanted to be taken seriously 664 00:59:47,834 --> 00:59:53,215 as an artist who was doing serious cartoons. 665 01:00:00,555 --> 01:00:02,272 The age of miracles. 666 01:00:02,474 --> 01:00:06,685 A pocket-sized, folding, electronically controlled, 667 01:00:06,686 --> 01:00:09,522 motor-driven, single-lens reflex camera 668 01:00:09,523 --> 01:00:11,899 that quite simply does the impossible. 669 01:00:11,900 --> 01:00:13,609 Come a bit closer. 670 01:00:13,610 --> 01:00:17,865 Focus. Train. 671 01:00:18,073 --> 01:00:20,658 Touch the electric button... 672 01:00:20,659 --> 01:00:22,627 And the impossible happens. 673 01:00:24,496 --> 01:00:29,251 In minutes, you have a finished photograph of dazzling beauty. 674 01:00:32,671 --> 01:00:38,644 That is the Polaroid SX-70 experience. 675 01:00:39,553 --> 01:00:41,100 Yeah, that's better. 676 01:00:41,680 --> 01:00:43,682 - Ready? - Yeah. 677 01:00:45,433 --> 01:00:48,310 - It worked. - There's no film in it. 678 01:00:48,311 --> 01:00:50,233 I wanna do it again. 679 01:00:57,529 --> 01:01:00,865 In 1996, I published With Nails, 680 01:01:00,866 --> 01:01:03,325 which was a compilation of film diaries, 681 01:01:03,326 --> 01:01:06,078 and I wanted 682 01:01:06,079 --> 01:01:09,415 the fly covers on the inside of the book, the back and the front. 683 01:01:09,416 --> 01:01:14,420 I thought it'd be a good idea as Ralph was so emblematic to Withnail. 684 01:01:14,421 --> 01:01:17,923 I asked Ralph if he could come up with a drawing or some idea. 685 01:01:17,924 --> 01:01:22,270 And he said, "Come down and we'll do paranoids." 686 01:01:40,405 --> 01:01:42,281 He took pictures of well-known people, 687 01:01:42,282 --> 01:01:45,326 or characters like Bela Lugosi or John Travolta, 688 01:01:45,327 --> 01:01:47,625 and then would stick them on my face. 689 01:01:49,372 --> 01:01:50,748 - That one worked. - Yeah. 690 01:01:50,749 --> 01:01:52,917 Okay, we're onto something now. 691 01:01:52,918 --> 01:01:55,586 Now, let me play with these ones for a minute. 692 01:01:55,587 --> 01:01:58,714 And then work on the Polaroid when it was still warm 693 01:01:58,715 --> 01:02:02,389 and fiddle around so that the two images melded together. 694 01:02:06,723 --> 01:02:08,724 They're directly on the... 695 01:02:08,725 --> 01:02:11,936 - Done onto the film. - Onto the film. 696 01:02:11,937 --> 01:02:14,521 While it's still... While it's still... 697 01:02:14,522 --> 01:02:19,735 I was after getting the real person and then doing something to it. 698 01:02:19,736 --> 01:02:23,197 I was actually trying to get a good picture of somebody, 699 01:02:23,198 --> 01:02:25,032 then distorting it, 700 01:02:25,033 --> 01:02:27,956 to look like one of my drawings. 701 01:02:31,998 --> 01:02:34,541 It was the essence of my work 702 01:02:34,542 --> 01:02:40,549 to distort and yet maintain the likeness. 703 01:02:46,137 --> 01:02:50,224 I thought, this is great, so I just fiddled with each one I did, 704 01:02:50,225 --> 01:02:56,021 and made that happen, made them move in an expressive way. 705 01:02:56,022 --> 01:03:00,025 And I thought, "Well, that speaks to me as my kind of drawing." 706 01:03:00,026 --> 01:03:02,324 That's what I like, you know. 707 01:03:02,529 --> 01:03:09,412 So I started doing them of the Queen and Princess Di. 708 01:03:10,829 --> 01:03:15,040 And that was Fergie, which I thought, "That's coming out well." 709 01:03:15,041 --> 01:03:18,002 And I thought, "I've got a book here." 710 01:03:18,003 --> 01:03:19,971 So I did a book of it. 711 01:03:42,861 --> 01:03:44,820 Anyway, they all came out like that, 712 01:03:44,821 --> 01:03:47,574 and there was one, and it's this one. 713 01:03:48,033 --> 01:03:52,870 We were at the Jerome Hotel in Aspen, 714 01:03:52,871 --> 01:03:54,913 and there was a sort of reception 715 01:03:54,914 --> 01:03:58,667 and David Hockney had been invited as well. 716 01:03:58,668 --> 01:04:01,795 And then I saw David in the bar. 717 01:04:01,796 --> 01:04:04,214 So I went up behind him, 718 01:04:04,215 --> 01:04:08,677 had the camera ready, and I said, "David." 719 01:04:08,678 --> 01:04:11,055 And he turned round like that and I went "Click, bash!" 720 01:04:11,056 --> 01:04:13,349 And the thing hit him, you see. 721 01:04:13,350 --> 01:04:16,148 And he said, "It won't come out, you know." 722 01:04:16,436 --> 01:04:18,937 Goddamn know-all. 723 01:04:18,938 --> 01:04:21,816 It came out as one of the best, actually. 724 01:04:24,486 --> 01:04:26,488 Can I pick it up? 725 01:04:33,870 --> 01:04:35,622 Does this sound distorted to you? 726 01:04:37,832 --> 01:04:39,041 Okeydoke. 727 01:04:39,042 --> 01:04:41,293 The war file... 728 01:04:41,294 --> 01:04:43,545 One more time. Sorry, Ralph. 729 01:04:43,546 --> 01:04:48,017 The war file, 1963, 2003. 730 01:04:49,427 --> 01:04:55,057 I protest, I protest, I protest, I protest vehemently against the war. 731 01:04:55,058 --> 01:04:57,267 I protest vehemently against the war. 732 01:04:57,268 --> 01:05:01,313 I'm seeking out every drawing I've done since the '60s, 733 01:05:01,314 --> 01:05:05,526 which in one way or another displays the irony of our crass stupidity. 734 01:05:05,527 --> 01:05:08,445 I will miss some things. There are so many. 735 01:05:08,446 --> 01:05:10,197 I know nothing will be solved, 736 01:05:10,198 --> 01:05:13,542 but I do it for my sanity and world peace. 737 01:05:14,577 --> 01:05:19,002 Our leaders are mindless, arrogant and insane. 738 01:05:35,098 --> 01:05:40,144 The thing about Ralph's work is it was just the energy, the anger, 739 01:05:40,145 --> 01:05:42,521 the venom that was just spewed out, 740 01:05:42,522 --> 01:05:45,024 and that's what I loved. 741 01:05:53,283 --> 01:05:57,953 I wish I'd had that kind of ability to explode like Ralph does 742 01:05:57,954 --> 01:06:00,752 and still control it at the same time. 743 01:06:09,549 --> 01:06:12,509 The problem with protest is we were the protesters 744 01:06:12,510 --> 01:06:15,012 and we got old and we got tired. 745 01:06:15,013 --> 01:06:18,140 We screamed and shouted and we did change the world to some degree, 746 01:06:18,141 --> 01:06:19,641 but not as much as we'd like. 747 01:06:19,642 --> 01:06:23,896 And that leads to depression and a sort of sense of semi-impotence, 748 01:06:23,897 --> 01:06:26,482 which I think after a while begins to just wear you down. 749 01:06:26,483 --> 01:06:29,401 You realize that you did make these changes 750 01:06:29,402 --> 01:06:32,154 and you see a new generation of people coming up 751 01:06:32,155 --> 01:06:37,326 who are the beneficiaries of a lot of the noise we made, 752 01:06:37,327 --> 01:06:40,704 and they don't give a damn, they don't give a toss. 753 01:06:40,705 --> 01:06:42,039 They're into shopping. 754 01:06:42,040 --> 01:06:45,009 So it gets very hard to know what to do with this. 755 01:06:47,253 --> 01:06:50,506 Ralph can't stop. I don't think I can stop. 756 01:06:50,507 --> 01:06:54,176 We'll go to our graves shouting and screaming and making noise 757 01:06:54,177 --> 01:06:56,679 and nobody will listen. 758 01:07:03,603 --> 01:07:07,064 To John Dillinger and I hope he is still alive. 759 01:07:07,065 --> 01:07:12,662 Thanksgiving Day, November 28th, 1986. 760 01:07:14,447 --> 01:07:17,991 Thanks for the wild turkey and the passenger pigeons 761 01:07:17,992 --> 01:07:19,743 destined to be shit out 762 01:07:19,744 --> 01:07:23,589 through wholesome American guts. 763 01:07:25,250 --> 01:07:29,380 Thanks for a continent to despoil and poison. 764 01:07:31,256 --> 01:07:37,229 Thanks for Indians to provide a modicum of challenge and danger. 765 01:07:38,930 --> 01:07:43,976 Thanks for vast herds of bison to kill and skin, 766 01:07:43,977 --> 01:07:47,105 leaving the carcasses to rot. 767 01:07:49,816 --> 01:07:54,162 Thanks for bounties on wolves and coyotes. 768 01:07:57,156 --> 01:08:01,326 Thanks for the American Dream to vulgarize and falsify. 769 01:08:01,327 --> 01:08:04,913 Like 1987, '88, around then, 770 01:08:04,914 --> 01:08:10,252 I was asked to do these records with William Burroughs, 771 01:08:10,253 --> 01:08:16,431 and that was so connected to the world of Hunter and Ralph. 772 01:08:16,718 --> 01:08:19,845 And, of course, Ralph adored this when he heard it. 773 01:08:19,846 --> 01:08:22,849 He liked the beginning and the montage. 774 01:08:23,600 --> 01:08:27,320 You know, it was all these worlds meeting. 775 01:08:28,104 --> 01:08:31,574 Thanks for "Kill a Queer for Christ" stickers. 776 01:08:32,525 --> 01:08:36,029 Thanks for laboratory AIDS. 777 01:08:38,156 --> 01:08:42,911 Thanks for prohibition and the war against drugs. 778 01:08:44,829 --> 01:08:50,836 Thanks for a country where nobody is allowed to mind his own business. 779 01:08:51,669 --> 01:08:55,343 Thanks for a nation of finks. 780 01:08:55,882 --> 01:09:00,177 Yes, thanks for all the memories. 781 01:09:00,178 --> 01:09:03,597 All right, let's see your arms. 782 01:09:03,598 --> 01:09:06,266 You always were a headache 783 01:09:06,267 --> 01:09:09,441 and you always were a bore. 784 01:09:10,897 --> 01:09:14,066 Thanks for the last and greatest betrayal 785 01:09:14,067 --> 01:09:18,822 of the last and greatest of human dreams. 786 01:09:22,950 --> 01:09:27,913 'Cause that type of writing, that type of drawing, 787 01:09:27,914 --> 01:09:29,831 is very admirable to me, 788 01:09:29,832 --> 01:09:33,502 'cause in an odd way it's what we're thinking at the back of our heads 789 01:09:33,503 --> 01:09:36,129 but aren't capable of getting it out. 790 01:09:36,130 --> 01:09:39,758 These guys have the kind of minds that 791 01:09:39,759 --> 01:09:42,594 that comes out of them. 792 01:09:42,595 --> 01:09:45,806 I mean, look at Ralph as a person. 793 01:09:45,807 --> 01:09:49,309 You never met a warmer, generous... 794 01:09:49,310 --> 01:09:52,609 He is not his paintings. 795 01:09:55,942 --> 01:09:57,150 I don't know. 796 01:09:57,151 --> 01:10:00,904 - Everything's here except the guns. - Guns? 797 01:10:00,905 --> 01:10:03,240 Everything's here except the guns. 798 01:10:03,241 --> 01:10:05,960 - He can hardly walk. - Yeah. 799 01:10:07,120 --> 01:10:09,622 They must be in the car. 800 01:10:12,500 --> 01:10:16,294 We found a spot where he does his shooting. He likes to shoot. 801 01:10:16,295 --> 01:10:19,005 And that's where we set up the target. 802 01:10:19,006 --> 01:10:20,716 Six. 803 01:10:20,717 --> 01:10:23,510 When it stays open, it's empty, see? 804 01:10:23,511 --> 01:10:25,137 Yeah. Right. 805 01:10:25,138 --> 01:10:26,596 - Understand? - Yes. 806 01:10:26,597 --> 01:10:29,099 - Okay. - Just about. 807 01:10:41,362 --> 01:10:43,864 So he comes forward 808 01:10:43,865 --> 01:10:46,658 and he was quite trembly by this time and... 809 01:10:46,659 --> 01:10:49,745 Two, three, four, 810 01:10:49,746 --> 01:10:52,840 five, six, seven. 811 01:10:56,043 --> 01:10:57,715 Here I go. 812 01:11:02,008 --> 01:11:04,510 And he goes... 813 01:11:08,598 --> 01:11:12,318 Empties six rounds, you see, like that. 814 01:11:13,770 --> 01:11:16,021 There, you cut his head off. 815 01:11:16,022 --> 01:11:20,108 I said, "Well, William, you've missed," you know. 816 01:11:20,109 --> 01:11:24,409 They all went through his neck, you see. So he said... 817 01:11:27,450 --> 01:11:29,952 He's dead, man. 818 01:11:33,790 --> 01:11:35,290 One of the privileges 819 01:11:35,291 --> 01:11:39,878 working with Hunter and William Burroughs was 820 01:11:39,879 --> 01:11:42,631 they were perverse in many ways 821 01:11:42,632 --> 01:11:46,261 and yet incredibly honest. 822 01:11:47,178 --> 01:11:49,763 I think what attracted me to them 823 01:11:49,764 --> 01:11:53,099 was the fact that they were honest writers, 824 01:11:53,100 --> 01:11:55,185 writing about real things 825 01:11:55,186 --> 01:11:57,521 that they actually experienced. 826 01:11:57,522 --> 01:12:03,819 So in some ways one would say they were journalist-writers. 827 01:12:03,820 --> 01:12:07,449 - They wrote about what happened to them. - Yeah. 828 01:12:09,033 --> 01:12:11,451 Isn't it awful? It's awful. 829 01:12:11,452 --> 01:12:15,747 And look how I look, as though I'm, you know, in control. 830 01:12:15,748 --> 01:12:17,582 - Exactly. - And I'm not. 831 01:12:17,583 --> 01:12:20,210 How many copies of this got out? 832 01:12:20,211 --> 01:12:22,713 About four million. 833 01:12:24,298 --> 01:12:26,508 No, no, no, no, no. 834 01:12:26,509 --> 01:12:29,845 Christ, he always puts me down in this terrible way. 835 01:12:29,846 --> 01:12:32,690 I'm shutting this off for a minute 'cause I'm pissed off. 836 01:12:34,392 --> 01:12:39,479 So, Ralph, was that the last time you saw Hunter, at Owl Farm? 837 01:12:39,480 --> 01:12:44,276 Yes, that was the last time. That was... That was October... 838 01:12:44,277 --> 01:12:48,702 September, October, 2004. 839 01:12:58,165 --> 01:13:00,417 I had one blowup today in my pants, and this is 840 01:13:00,418 --> 01:13:01,626 - another blowup! - Stop it. Stop it. 841 01:13:01,627 --> 01:13:03,379 - So you keep doing it... - Stop it! 842 01:13:03,713 --> 01:13:05,755 - Don't do that. - Please don't shout about it. 843 01:13:05,756 --> 01:13:07,799 I don't come into your house and copy all your fucking drawings 844 01:13:07,800 --> 01:13:09,634 and then take them out and run away with me, do I? 845 01:13:09,635 --> 01:13:10,969 I'm not doing that. 846 01:13:10,970 --> 01:13:15,307 Go on! Fucking well do something, for Christ's sake! 847 01:13:15,308 --> 01:13:18,937 You miserable son of a bitch. What the hell are you trying to do? 848 01:13:22,899 --> 01:13:26,109 Sitting here in this goddamn place! 849 01:13:26,110 --> 01:13:28,578 I think Ralph loved Hunter 850 01:13:28,905 --> 01:13:33,408 and was hoping that Hunter would be something he couldn't be, 851 01:13:33,409 --> 01:13:36,578 a little more responsible and a little more careful 852 01:13:36,579 --> 01:13:38,456 and a little more generous. 853 01:13:44,253 --> 01:13:47,839 Day one. The English artist Ralph Steadman 854 01:13:47,840 --> 01:13:50,675 sets off with a BBC film crew for Aspen, Colorado, 855 01:13:50,676 --> 01:13:52,010 to meet an old friend. 856 01:13:52,011 --> 01:13:54,471 The intermingling of the commentary was so great. 857 01:13:54,472 --> 01:13:56,514 It was like, you know, jealous brothers, 858 01:13:56,515 --> 01:13:59,643 or partners like Keith and Mick or something like that, 859 01:13:59,644 --> 01:14:03,523 that just, you know, was gonna blow apart. 860 01:14:05,399 --> 01:14:09,653 What I had presented myself as 861 01:14:09,654 --> 01:14:12,072 was a ready answer to all your problems. 862 01:14:12,073 --> 01:14:15,450 And I took it quite readily, and that's why you illustrated the book. 863 01:14:15,451 --> 01:14:19,162 It wasn't the only reason, Hunter. It wasn't the only reason. 864 01:14:19,163 --> 01:14:23,083 No one would have noticed it had it not been for my illustrations. 865 01:14:23,084 --> 01:14:24,626 No one. 866 01:14:24,627 --> 01:14:26,461 What you're saying, Ralph, is that 867 01:14:26,462 --> 01:14:30,382 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas would not have been a... 868 01:14:30,383 --> 01:14:31,758 The success it was. 869 01:14:31,759 --> 01:14:34,344 a success if it hadn't been illustrated by you? 870 01:14:34,345 --> 01:14:37,138 Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. 871 01:14:37,139 --> 01:14:39,349 Yeah, that's the story, in fact. 872 01:14:39,350 --> 01:14:42,936 The story that was never told was the story of my resentment, 873 01:14:42,937 --> 01:14:46,731 - my burning desperate resentment. - That explains a lot, doesn't it? 874 01:14:46,732 --> 01:14:48,324 Yeah. 875 01:14:50,903 --> 01:14:53,196 I think in Hunter's heart, he loved Ralph. 876 01:14:53,197 --> 01:14:55,665 Ralph was a brother to Hunter. 877 01:14:55,825 --> 01:14:58,702 And they were two wonderful characters 878 01:14:58,703 --> 01:15:01,621 and they had a great collaboration and friendship. 879 01:15:01,622 --> 01:15:05,291 But sometimes those things tend to break apart, 880 01:15:05,292 --> 01:15:07,752 especially when you've got irascible personalities 881 01:15:07,753 --> 01:15:11,047 and particularly when you have, you know, 882 01:15:11,048 --> 01:15:15,598 Hunter's, you know, problem with drink and drugs. 883 01:15:17,388 --> 01:15:20,983 - You don't care? - I do care, actually. 884 01:15:21,308 --> 01:15:27,397 You know that, Hunter, but it's been a fucking hard ride for all sorts of reasons. 885 01:15:27,398 --> 01:15:30,651 - Who do you wanna beat on? - For fuck's sake. 886 01:15:31,986 --> 01:15:36,406 Hang on. I'm gonna stop this thing now, 'cause I can't talk to you like this. 887 01:15:36,407 --> 01:15:38,575 - Yeah, you get out of here. - What? 888 01:15:38,576 --> 01:15:41,750 - I'm starting to feel queer. - Christ. 889 01:15:48,127 --> 01:15:50,795 He just realized this was the death of fun. 890 01:15:50,796 --> 01:15:53,298 There was no more fun. 891 01:15:57,261 --> 01:15:59,763 And the idea of going into an old people's home, 892 01:15:59,764 --> 01:16:02,390 Hunter S. Thompson in an old people's home, 893 01:16:02,391 --> 01:16:04,313 can you imagine? 894 01:16:08,898 --> 01:16:11,566 And he said, "I can't bear the idea, Ralph. 895 01:16:11,567 --> 01:16:14,819 "I've got this awful image in my mind of 896 01:16:14,820 --> 01:16:18,615 "me sitting there strapped into the wheelchair." 897 01:16:18,616 --> 01:16:20,658 They'd have to strap him in. Couldn't keep him in it. 898 01:16:20,659 --> 01:16:22,911 They'd strap him in the wheelchair. 899 01:16:22,912 --> 01:16:24,662 And he couldn't move. 900 01:16:24,663 --> 01:16:26,581 And he could see out of the corner of his eye, 901 01:16:26,582 --> 01:16:28,750 there was an old crone 902 01:16:28,751 --> 01:16:32,170 and she was crawling across the floor towards him, 903 01:16:32,171 --> 01:16:34,339 and he knew, instinctively, 904 01:16:34,340 --> 01:16:37,559 she was going to fondle his balls. 905 01:16:43,516 --> 01:16:46,351 His wife, Anita, went off to the health club 906 01:16:46,352 --> 01:16:48,561 and she rang and said, "Hi, honey." 907 01:16:48,562 --> 01:16:52,607 And then there was a certain faraway sound, 908 01:16:52,608 --> 01:16:56,069 as though she wasn't necessarily up to the phone, 909 01:16:56,070 --> 01:16:59,280 when he put the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. 910 01:16:59,281 --> 01:17:00,365 And that was it. 911 01:17:00,366 --> 01:17:03,701 Now, his son thought he heard a book drop. 912 01:17:03,702 --> 01:17:06,296 'Cause it goes like that. 913 01:17:09,458 --> 01:17:13,128 - Quite ironic, really, when you think. - Yeah. 914 01:17:13,129 --> 01:17:16,089 Yeah, well, it was kind of that. He sort of... 915 01:17:16,090 --> 01:17:19,092 The way I... Same thing, the way I came to terms with it 916 01:17:19,093 --> 01:17:24,722 was that this was a man who dictated the way he was gonna live his life. 917 01:17:24,723 --> 01:17:27,559 He was most certainly gonna dictate the way he left. 918 01:17:27,560 --> 01:17:28,977 - Yeah. - And he did, you know. 919 01:17:28,978 --> 01:17:31,606 - He did exactly that, yeah. - So... 920 01:17:32,398 --> 01:17:34,992 - It's sad, really. - Very. 921 01:17:42,825 --> 01:17:44,993 I did love Hunter 922 01:17:44,994 --> 01:17:49,624 and I miss him quite a lot. 923 01:17:51,584 --> 01:17:54,419 Rather a lot, actually. 924 01:17:54,420 --> 01:18:00,592 Because he took away, when he did what he did to himself, 925 01:18:00,593 --> 01:18:02,969 he took with him 926 01:18:02,970 --> 01:18:08,522 the raison d'être for the kind of work we did together. 927 01:18:09,226 --> 01:18:11,102 It wasn't gonna happen again. 928 01:18:11,103 --> 01:18:15,106 It was the finality of it 929 01:18:15,107 --> 01:18:20,659 that perhaps is the most shocking part for me. 930 01:18:21,447 --> 01:18:24,782 Because that's what happens to everything. 931 01:18:24,783 --> 01:18:28,207 It disappears eventually. 932 01:18:39,006 --> 01:18:42,717 A lot of people want a piece of Ralph's art, 933 01:18:42,718 --> 01:18:45,511 and Ralph holds onto most of his originals, 934 01:18:45,512 --> 01:18:48,731 because he just does not want to let them go. 935 01:18:49,350 --> 01:18:54,481 And this way somebody can get a piece of Ralph's original artwork. 936 01:18:58,359 --> 01:19:00,777 Yeah, they are original. Each one is an original. 937 01:19:00,778 --> 01:19:04,197 And each one's an original because I sign each one separately 938 01:19:04,198 --> 01:19:08,451 and number it out of an edition. 939 01:19:08,452 --> 01:19:09,911 So that becomes the edition, 940 01:19:09,912 --> 01:19:15,384 and the edition can be worth quite a lot of money. 941 01:19:37,648 --> 01:19:41,818 I'm a printmaker and we sell prints 942 01:19:41,819 --> 01:19:45,323 to, you know, Ralph's collectors all over the world. 943 01:20:04,842 --> 01:20:07,427 It gives me a feeling of hope that, 944 01:20:07,428 --> 01:20:10,221 you know, I can keep the original 945 01:20:10,222 --> 01:20:13,521 and I can still make money. 946 01:20:19,273 --> 01:20:23,985 But I don't think that it's good for me, in a way. 947 01:20:23,986 --> 01:20:27,822 Because it represses my spirit, 948 01:20:27,823 --> 01:20:31,951 my natural spirit, to just do another drawing. 949 01:20:31,952 --> 01:20:35,705 And I think there's something about that 950 01:20:35,706 --> 01:20:39,542 which perhaps I don't like, 951 01:20:39,543 --> 01:20:45,214 the idea that I'm not only gonna sign this once 952 01:20:45,215 --> 01:20:47,008 and then maybe twice, 953 01:20:47,009 --> 01:20:49,802 or do the same drawing twice, 954 01:20:49,803 --> 01:20:54,149 I'm gonna sign 800 of them. 955 01:21:03,525 --> 01:21:06,369 Gonzo will not die. 956 01:21:06,779 --> 01:21:10,531 Ralph continues to keep Hunter alive 957 01:21:10,532 --> 01:21:13,326 and Hunter keeps Ralph alive. 958 01:21:13,327 --> 01:21:15,829 - You know, the two together. - Yeah. 959 01:21:20,250 --> 01:21:22,752 There's the sunshine coming in. 960 01:21:23,337 --> 01:21:25,505 Right. It's coming through? 961 01:21:25,506 --> 01:21:27,428 Testing, testing. 962 01:21:27,466 --> 01:21:29,884 One, two, three, four. 963 01:21:29,885 --> 01:21:33,889 So, Ralph, how you doing? 964 01:21:34,348 --> 01:21:40,901 I don't know. I'm feeling a bit down, I think, really, somehow. Yeah. 965 01:21:42,189 --> 01:21:45,400 Apprehensive, anxious. 966 01:21:45,401 --> 01:21:46,818 And I just don't know what... 967 01:21:46,819 --> 01:21:50,539 It's partly to do with getting older, you know. 968 01:21:51,031 --> 01:21:55,627 You don't know how... How long it goes on. 969 01:21:56,203 --> 01:21:59,997 And, I don't know, I woke up in the middle of the night 970 01:21:59,998 --> 01:22:02,750 and needed to go to the loo 971 01:22:02,751 --> 01:22:06,551 and felt... 972 01:22:08,841 --> 01:22:13,812 I don't know, I think I felt slightly meaningless. 973 01:22:15,222 --> 01:22:18,057 That's the problem, I find, 974 01:22:18,058 --> 01:22:21,978 that things are a little bit on the meaningless side. 975 01:22:21,979 --> 01:22:25,773 And why was I ever bothered 976 01:22:25,774 --> 01:22:28,067 - to do anything about it? - Sure. 977 01:22:28,068 --> 01:22:32,539 Why did I ever try to change the world? 978 01:22:33,490 --> 01:22:35,992 But it was... 979 01:22:37,828 --> 01:22:42,674 it was something to do, you know, change the world. 980 01:22:49,339 --> 01:22:52,550 I left Ralph's with my mind reeling from 981 01:22:52,551 --> 01:22:56,637 the sheer volume of a lifetime's ideas and images, 982 01:22:56,638 --> 01:23:02,736 uplifted and inspired by an artist's efforts to change the world. 983 01:23:07,149 --> 01:23:08,733 Look, you know, you've come here 984 01:23:08,734 --> 01:23:11,903 asking me this and asking me that, asking me everything else. 985 01:23:11,904 --> 01:23:14,822 And as I go through things, I suddenly realize 986 01:23:14,823 --> 01:23:17,116 I've done too much in my life. 987 01:23:17,117 --> 01:23:19,994 Really, what was the point of all that? 988 01:23:19,995 --> 01:23:21,954 There is no need to do any more 989 01:23:21,955 --> 01:23:24,123 and yet I probably may do some more, 990 01:23:24,124 --> 01:23:26,792 and I don't really think it's a good idea 991 01:23:26,793 --> 01:23:31,506 because you become a polluter, you know, a visual polluter. 992 01:23:31,507 --> 01:23:34,009 How about that? 993 01:23:45,437 --> 01:23:49,316 And I still haven't proved that I'm an artist. 994 01:23:49,900 --> 01:23:53,402 Somehow I'm a cartoonist to some, and that's... 995 01:23:53,403 --> 01:23:55,905 The cartoonist. 996 01:25:12,941 --> 01:25:16,777 It's amazing to see an artist as they jump into the unknown, 997 01:25:16,778 --> 01:25:19,280 commit to the impossible. 998 01:25:21,158 --> 01:25:23,909 Make no mistake, Ralph. 999 01:25:23,910 --> 01:25:26,370 You are an inspiration. 1000 01:25:26,371 --> 01:25:28,873 For no good reason. 1001 01:25:41,345 --> 01:25:43,054 Is that all right? 1002 01:25:43,055 --> 01:25:45,432 Perfect, yes. 1002 01:25:46,305 --> 01:25:52,807 Support us and become VIP member to remove all ads from www.OpenSubtitles.org