Apocalypse Now, Dir. Francis Ford Coppola, 1979
Considering I hold a degree in film studies I am ashamed to say that I only just recently watched Apocalypse Now. I am a huge fan of war films, particularly Vietnam war films, and so I don't really understand why it's taken me so long to watch it. I'm currently writing a paper on Jarhead (Dir. Sam Mendes, 2005) and it's connection to the Vietnam, Gulf and Iraq wars, and I couldn't escape the many connections to Coppola's film. I knew that I would not be able to write anymore on my paper without watching it. So I went to local video store and got out one of their many copies of the film. I don't know what I was expecting, but I can tell you I didn't think I'd find one of the finest war films ever made.
Now I realise I may be slightly late to the boat on this one. I'm sure there are thousands of articles outlining all the aspects which make the film brilliant. This however is a simple account from a lover of films who has discovered a masterpiece.
The opening scene alone is worth a thesis. The use of The Door's "The End" is spectacular, and combined with images of exploding terrain it's breathtaking. Jarhead also uses The Doors music and I can't help think that it does so as a tribute to this film. In fact there are many references within the film that can be seen as a tribute to Apocalypse Now, finally I can understand why.
When we first see Martin Sheen's Captain Benjamin L. Willard he has already reached the madness that so many soldiers come to know during war. Awaiting a mission he slowly goes insane inside his motel room, stripping naked and driving himself to breaking point. Once his mission has been given to him he cleans up, presents himself to his superiors and looks a different man from the one who moments before had reached the edge of darkness. What I love about this transformation is that although he looks on the outside like a respectable American soldier, on the inside his insanity is still there. The fact that he's been given a mission to kill a rogue, insane American Colonel only makes this balance between sanity and insanity more complex.
Francis Ford Coppola on set of Apocalypse Now
The film, as many have suggested, is not a film about war, rather it is a film about the insanity that war can bring. Once again I can't help but make a comparison to Jarhead where Mendes shows a group of Marines slowly being driven mad in the desert. What is particularly interesting is that behind the scenes of Apocalypse Now the cast and crew were themselves experiencing a similar descent into madness. A behind the scenes documentary of the film entitled Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991) chronicles the descent. From casting issues, which included firing Harvey Keitel and replacing him with Martin Sheen, who had a heart attack during the shoot, to harsh visits from Mother Nature, which destroyed large amounts of the set, it's not surprising they titled it "A Filmmaker's Apocalypse."
Luckily for us however the film made it through to see the light. As we watch Captain Williard make his way up the Nung river to find Colonel Kurtz we witness a series of events that highlight the tragedy of the Vietnam War. One particular event is the death of a young soldier who is shot and killed while listening to a tape sent from his mother. As they lay the soldier to rest in the ground the tape player is placed on his body. This imagery is quite stunning as it connects the way in which the war on the ground was connected to the people back home. Unlike so many other war films Apocalypse Now reminds the viewer that the people who died were people with mothers, fathers, family who would miss them.
As I watched Williard get further north up the river, where many warn him not to go, I couldn't help but look forward to the moment that I would finally get to see the great Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz. The moment they reach the location, which can only be described as the end of the world and the far reaches on insanity, we are bombarded with an energetic Dennis Hopper who plays a photojournalist following Kurtz. He embodies the insanity of the whole situation as he tries to make rational statements about the man who has created this chaos. When we do finally meet Kurtz he appears weak and sick, laying in the dark. It is immediately obvious however that he is a man of many charms whose voice and persona has a hypnotizing effect. There are times that you want to be able to rationalise him but the images of hanging bodies and spiked heads reminds you that there is no sanity left in this corner of the earth. My experience of watching these scenes for the first time felt hypnotic, I recall being appalled at what I was seeing yet at the same time not wanting the film to end.
When Williard finally kills Kurtz it appears that our protagonist has gone insane himself. When he walks out to face the crowd, covered in the blood of their late leader, they all lay their weapons down for him. They appear to give him an option of becoming the new Kurtz. For a moment you think he may take it. Instead he grabs a remaining soldier who appears to be enjoying the festivities too much, and they return to the navy patrol boat. A radio voice comes over, a patrol is ready to come in and annihilate the place, all Williard has to do is respond. Instead however he turns the radio off. He has seen the very depths of insanity and no amount of air fire can erase that. Perhaps without a leader the others will make their way back to rationality, perhaps not. As Williard makes his way back down the river I can only wonder if anyone could ever overcome seeing such a dark reach into human madness.
In the end perhaps the point isn't that war makes us insane but that insanity is inherent in all of us and war only brings it to the surface.
