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Leaving Las Vegas is a 1995 American drama film written and directed by Mike Figgis, and based on the semi-autobiographical 1990 novel of the same name by John O'Brien. Nicolas Cage stars as a suicidal alcoholic in Los Angeles who, having lost his family and been recently fired, has decided to move to Las Vegas and drink himself to death. He loads a supply of liquor and beer into his BMW and gets drunk as he drives from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Once there, he develops a romantic relationship with a sex worker played by Elisabeth Shue and the film shifts to include her narrative perspective. O'Brien died from suicide after signing away the film rights to the novel.[4]

Leaving Las Vegas
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mike Figgis
Screenplay by	Mike Figgis
Based on	Leaving Las Vegas by John O'Brien
Produced by	Lila Cazès Annie Stewart
Starring	Nicolas Cage Elisabeth Shue Julian Sands
Cinematography	Declan Quinn
Edited by	John Smith
Music by	Anthony Marinelli Mike Figgis[1]
Production companies	United Artists Lumiére Pictures
Distributed by	MGM/UA Distribution Co.
Release dates	October 27, 1995 (1995-10-27) (Limited ) February 9, 1996 (1996-02-09) (Wide)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3.5–4 million[2][3]
Box office	$49.8 million[2]

Leaving Las Vegas was filmed in super 16 mm[5] instead of 35 mm film; while 16 mm was common for art house films at the time, 35 mm is most commonly used for mainstream film. After limited release in the United States on October 27, 1995, Leaving Las Vegas was released nationwide on February 9, 1996, receiving strong praise from critics and audiences. Cage received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama and the Academy Award for Best Actor, while Shue was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama and the Academy Award for Best Actress. The film also received nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director.

Plot

Ben Sanderson is an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who has lost his job, family, and friends. With nothing left to live for, and a sizable severance check from his boss, he heads to Las Vegas to drink himself to death. One early morning, he drives drunkenly from his Los Angeles home down to the Las Vegas Strip; he nearly hits a woman, Sera, on the crosswalk. She chastises him and walks away.

Sera is a prostitute working for abusive Latvian pimp Yuri Butsov. Polish mobsters are after Yuri, so he ends his relationship with Sera in fear that the Poles may hurt her. On his second day in Las Vegas, Ben looks for Sera, introduces himself, and offers her $500 to come to his room for an hour. Sera agrees, but Ben does not want sex. Instead, they talk and develop a rapport; Sera invites Ben to move into her apartment. Ben instructs Sera never to ask him to stop drinking. Ben says he will not criticize her occupation either, and she thanks him.

At first, the pair are happy but soon become frustrated with the other's behavior. Sera begs Ben to see a doctor, which he refuses. While Sera is working, Ben goes to a casino and returns with another prostitute. Sera returns to find them in her bed and throws Ben out. Shortly afterward, Sera is approached by three college students at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino. She initially rejects their offer by stating that she only "dates" one at a time but eventually acquiesces when she is offered an increased price. When she enters their hotel room, the students change the deal and demand anal sex, which she refuses. When she attempts to leave, they violently gang-rape her.

The following day, Sera is spotted by her landlady returning home bruised and is evicted. Sera receives a call from Ben, who is on his deathbed. Sera visits Ben, and the two make love, and he dies shortly thereafter. Later, Sera explains to her therapist that she accepted Ben for who he was and loved him.

Cast

Production

Development

Mike Figgis based Leaving Las Vegas on a 1990 autobiographical novel by John O'Brien, who died of suicide in April 1994, shortly after finding out his novel was being used as the basis for a film.[6][7] Despite basing most of his screenplay on O'Brien's novel, Figgis spoke of a personal attachment with the novel, stating "Anything I would do would be because I had a sympathetic feeling towards it. That's why I did Mr. Jones, because I think manic-depression is a fascinating, sad, and amazing phenomenon. It's not a coincidence that some of the greatest artists have been manic-depressives. That made it, to me, a fascinating subject that, alas, did not come out in the film."[8]

Casting

Figgis encouraged the lead actors to experience their characters' ordeals first-hand by extensive research. He told Film Critic: "It was just a week and a half of rehearsal. A lot of conversations. A lot of communication in the year before we made the film. Reading the book. I encouraged them [Cage and Shue] to do their own research, which they wanted to do anyway, and then ultimately the three of us got together and just started talking...talking about anything, not necessarily about the film or the script, about anything that came up."[8] Cage researched by binge drinking in Dublin for two weeks and had a friend videotape him so he could study his speech. He also visited hospitalized career alcoholics.[9] He said "it was one of the most enjoyable pieces of research I've ever had to do for a part."[9] Shue spent time interviewing several Las Vegas prostitutes.[10]

Filming

The limited budget dictated the production and Figgis ended up filming in super 16mm and composing his own score.[5][11] He said "We didn't have any money, and we weren't pretending to be something we weren't. We couldn't shut down The Strip to shoot".[8] Cage recounted that he found the use of 16mm liberating as an actor stating in a 1995 interview with Roger Ebert:

"As an actor, having a 16-mm. camera in my face was liberating because it's much smaller, so you don't feel as intimidated by it. It catches those little nuances. Because as soon as that big camera's in your face, you tense up a little bit. Film acting is a learning experience about how to get over that, but I don't know that you ever really do."[5]

Figgis had problems because permits were not issued for some street scenes.[12] This caused him to film some scenes on the Las Vegas strip in one take to avoid the police, which Figgis said benefited production and the authenticity of the acting, remarking "I've always hated the convention of shooting on a street, and then having to stop the traffic, and then having to tell the actors, 'Well, there's meant to be traffic here, so you're going to have to shout.' And they're shouting, but it's quiet and they feel really stupid, because it's unnatural. You put them up against a couple of trucks, with it all happening around them, and their voices become great".[8][12] Filming took place over 28 days.[13]

Release

Leaving Las Vegas had a limited release on October 27, 1995.[13] As it won awards from multiple film critics’ organizations and earned four Academy Award nominations, the film's release was expanded and it ultimately opened nationwide on February 9, 1996.[10][14][15] United Artists distributed the film in North America, while RCV Film Distribution and Atalanta Filmes handled the European release, and 21st Century Film Corporation distributed the film in Australia. MGM/UA reportedly spent less than $2 million marketing the film, which included TV spots and ads in industry publications.[13]

Reception

The film was a success at the box office, particularly considering its budget, grossing $49.8 million.[2] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an approval rating of 91% based on 53 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Oscar-awarded Nicolas Cage finds humanity in his character as it bleeds away in this no frills, exhilaratingly dark portrait of destruction."[16] It also holds a score of 82 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 23 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[17] Roger Ebert from Chicago Sun-Times and Rick Groen from The Globe and Mail gave the film high marks.[18] Ebert wrote, "If there are two unplayable roles in the stock repertory, they are the drunk and the whore with a heart of gold. Cage and Shue make these cliches into unforgettable people."[19] Ebert named the film "best of 1995" and included it in his "best of the decade" list in the number 8 spot.[20] Leonard Klady from Variety wrote Leaving Las Vegas was "certainly among a scant handful of films that have taken an unflinching view of dependency."[21]

Accolades

Award	Category	Subject	Result
20/20 Awards	Best Actor	Nicolas Cage	Won
	Best Actress	Elisabeth Shue	Nominated
	Best Adapted Screenplay	Mike Figgis	Nominated
Academy Awards	Best Director		Nominated
	Best Actor	Nicolas Cage	Won
	Best Actress	Elisabeth Shue	Nominated
	Best Screenplay – Based on Material Previously Produced or Published	Mike Figgis	Nominated
Awards Circuit Community Awards	Best Motion Picture	Lila Cazès and Annie Stewart	Nominated
	Best Director	Mike Figgis	Nominated
	Best Actor in a Leading Role	Nicolas Cage	Won
	Best Actress in a Leading Role	Elisabeth Shue	Won
	Best Adapted Screenplay	Mike Figgis	Nominated
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Actor	Nicolas Cage	Won
British Academy Film Awards	Best Actor in a Leading Role		Nominated
	Best Actress in a Leading Role	Elisabeth Shue	Nominated
	Best Adapted Screenplay	Mike Figgis	Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards	Best Director		Nominated
	Best Actor	Nicolas Cage	Won
	Best Actress	Elisabeth Shue	Won
Chlotrudis Awards	Best Actor	Nicolas Cage	Nominated
	Best Actress	Elisabeth Shue	Nominated
Critics' Choice Awards	Best Actor	Nicolas Cage	Nominated
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards	Best Picture		Won
	Best Director	Mike Figgis	Won
	Best Actor	Nicolas Cage	Won
	Best Actress	Elisabeth Shue	Won
Directors Guild of America Awards	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	Mike Figgis	Nominated
Golden Globe Awards	Best Motion Picture – Drama		Nominated
	Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama	Nicolas Cage	Won
	Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama	Elisabeth Shue	Nominated
	Best Director – Motion Picture	Mike Figgis	Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards	Best Film		Won
	Best Director	Mike Figgis	Won
	Best Male Lead	Nicolas Cage	Nominated
	Best Female Lead	Elisabeth Shue	Won
	Best Screenplay	Mike Figgis	Nominated
	Best Cinematography	Declan Quinn	Won
Jupiter Awards	Best International Actor	Nicolas Cage (also for The Rock)	Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards	Best Film		Won
	Best Director	Mike Figgis	Won
	Best Actor	Nicolas Cage	Won
	Best Actress	Elisabeth Shue	Won
	Best Screenplay	Mike Figgis	Runner-up
National Board of Review Awards	Top Ten Films		4th Place
	Best Actor	Nicolas Cage	Won
National Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Director	Mike Figgis	Won
	Best Actor	Nicolas Cage	Won
	Best Actress	Elisabeth Shue	Won
New York Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Film		Won
	Best Director	Mike Figgis	2nd Place
	Best Actor	Nicolas Cage	Won
	Best Actress	Elisabeth Shue	2nd Place
San Sebastián International Film Festival	Golden Shell	Mike Figgis	Nominated
	Best Director		Won
	Best Actor	Nicolas Cage	Won
Sant Jordi Awards	Best Foreign Actor		Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role		Won
	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role	Elisabeth Shue	Nominated
Society of Texas Film Critics Awards	Best Actor	Nicolas Cage	Won
Turkish Film Critics Association Awards	Best Foreign Film		10th Place
Writers Guild of America Awards	Best Screenplay – Based on Material Previously Produced or Published	Mike Figgis	Nominated

Home media

Video cassettes and DVD of the film were distributed by MGM Home Entertainment.[22] The video cassettes were distributed on November 12, 1996 in two languages, English and Russian, while the DVD was distributed on January 1, 1998 in English for USA and Canada. Australian and UK editions later were released.[23][24] The DVD contains a supplemental "Hidden Page" menu feature.[25] The film was also released on Blu-ray, HD DVD and LaserDisc.[26]

Soundtrack

A soundtrack album, consisting mainly of film score composed and performed by Mike Figgis, was released November 7, 1995.[27] The soundtrack also included three jazz standards performed by Sting and excerpts of dialogue from the film. A version of "Lonely Teardrops" performed by Michael McDonald that features in the film is not included.

References

Further reading

• Litch, Mary M. (2010) [1st ed. 2002]. "9. EXISTENTIALISM – The Seventh Seal (1957), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1988), and Leaving Las Vegas (1995) [pp. 209–226]". Philosophy Through Film (2nd ed.). London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415938754.

External links

• Leaving Las Vegas at IMDb
• Leaving Las Vegas at the TCM Movie Database
• Leaving Las Vegas at AllMovie
• Leaving Las Vegas at Rotten Tomatoes

На других языках

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- [en] Leaving Las Vegas

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[es] Leaving Las Vegas

Leaving Las Vegas, en español Adiós a Las Vegas, es una película estadounidense de 1995 dirigida por Mike Figgis, y protagonizada por Nicolas Cage y Elisabeth Shue, por cuyas interpretaciones ambos actores resultaron nominados al Óscar al mejor actor, aunque sólo Nicolas Cage consiguió ganar el premio.

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[it] Via da Las Vegas

Via da Las Vegas (Leaving Las Vegas) è un film del 1995 diretto da Mike Figgis.

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[ru] Покидая Лас-Вегас

«Покидая Лас-Вегас» (англ. Leaving Las Vegas) — американский фильм 1995 года. Психологическая драма об отношениях между алкоголиком и проституткой, живущими в Лас-Вегасе.

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