Apocalypse Now
I agree with many that 1979's APOCALYPSE NOW was director Francis Coppola's last truly great film, one that followed his three other masterpieces in a decade filled with them. I have seen it several times since I was about twelve and it only gets more astonishing. The power has not diminished even a trifle, and its themes grow more salient with time. Writer John Milius and Coppola sought to use Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness as a framework upon which they could splash their feelings about the insanity of Vietnam, but it goes much deeper. Conrad's title alone explains it. The men in this film all have black hearts. Even the green teenagers on the Navy patrol boat that take Captain Willard up the Nung River to find the wayward Col. Kurtz, who has succumbed to the insanity and created his own splinter kingdom of war and death.
Willard (Martin Sheen) has done a few tours and even been home, which for him exists in name only. He finds his meaning in the shit, even as he forever curses it. Maybe because he is so familiar with all the lies and pointless fatalities. He takes the assignment to find the highly decorated and honored but disgraced Kurtz (Marlon Brando), whom the Army is charging with murder. A charge Willard finds especially ironic in this humid hellhole. There will be no trial for a man gone insane, but rather a termination of command "with extreme prejudice." It's a mission that is perhaps suicidal, and the Captain will later learn that a predecessor was sent on the same errand but failed, eventually falling under Kurtz's spell, becoming one of Kurtz's unauthorized army. But as we hear in Willard's voice over (beautifully written by Michael Herr), there is little else to do. When we first see him, he is waiting out endless days and nights in a dingy hotel room in Saigon, "getting softer" with each inactive day, as the 'cong in the bush get stronger.
The journey is mesmerizing. The editing (in part by the great Walter Murch) is seamless. At each stop you can plumb for Meaning, but perhaps all you need to recognize is that the Vietnam conflict was, as someone put it, a "clusterfuck." Willard finds the besieged Do Lung Bridge, an Army outpost, without a commanding officer. A USO show with Playboy bunnies that goes awry (the weary soliders' perhaps inherent savagery laid bare). A regiment led by the colorful Lt. Kilgore (Robert Duvall), fascinated that on Willard's boat is a famous surfer named Lance (Sam Bottoms). Even after a brutal helicopter assault and subsequent napalm attack (and a highly famous, iconic quote), the Lieutenant, who is immune to gunfire and bombs even a mere centimeter or so away, is more interested in wave conditions than anything else. The Army's finest.
APOCALYPSE NOW is a grand indictment of the Military, and war itself. Maybe the most effective I've seen. The film remains stunning, and is one of the closest things I've witnessed to filimic poetry. Much of the credit must go to cinematographer Vittorio Starraro, whose work is mind boggling. He creates art and visual information as to cause the viewer not to be able to separate the two. It conveys Madness. It was not just onscreen, as you may have heard. Coppola famously lost his own shit during the year long shoot (see the doc HEARTS OF DARKNESS), but the resulting film is one of the greatest ever committed to celluloid. Even if Coppola's brash statement "My film isn't about Vietnam, it is Vietnam!" may be a bit wild, his work is certainly more than a mere movie. Was it worth the wasted money, damaged psyches, and heart attacks?
The film's final moments offer some glimmer of hope. After Willard completes his mission, he and Kurtz's minions throw down their weapons. Are the cultists merely following what their potential new leader is doing? Or is Peace something attainable? Coppola originally (in the 70 mm prints) ended the film without credits, instead abruptly fading to black as Kurtz's final utterances ("The horror...") repeat. When the 35 mm version was released, end credits were played over footage of Kurtz's compound going up in flames. This suggested to many viewers that Willard had in fact called in an air strike, but Coppola confirms during his commentary that this was not the case. The explosions were extra, perhaps second unit footage that should be taken metaphorically. As frightening music sears the soundtrack, we see burning palms hit the earth and grand structures ignite and explode; it's brilliantly effective.
The cast is strong, many of whom had worked with Coppola before and some who would work with him again. My only carp is with Dennis Hopper's verbose presence, and although he makes a suitable MOC of sorts, I wonder if his character was even necessary.
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