Apocalypse Now (18.)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
Starring Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, Frederic Forrest. 153 mins
Good old Apocalypse Now; still crazy after all these years. It wasn’t the first movie to tell us that War Is Hell, but the first probably to suggest that that wasn't such a bad thing. It no doubt meant to deliver an anti-war message, but it just got lost in the chaos of making it. The word masterpiece gets bandied about in relation to Apocalypse but really as a war film it is nonsense and folly; which is why it is such a great war film.
Coppola’s Vietnam is an abstraction; all dry ice, long shadows and unexplained light sources. Whether it is an accurate representation of what happened in South East Asia is rather redundant: Apocalypse Now has largely replaced the actual conflict in people’s consciousness. Along with Full Metal Jacket it put a straitjacket on how American movies portray not just Vietnam but war in general; look at how all the Iraq/ War on Terror movies have struggled to make any impact or forge an identity of their own.
The decision to base it on Conrad’s Heart of Darkness was a fortunate one. It meant that however wayward the production went they had a nice simple story – man sails upriver in a jungle to look for another man – on which to hang all the stuff they had filmed.
Considering all the fuss that went into casting the role – everybody from McQueen to Pacino were considered; Harvey Keitel started out but got sacked, Sheen had a heart attack during filming – Willard is more or less a lead bystander, a variety compere introducing the turns. But what turns, Robert Duvall’s one man show of Catch 22; the helicopter assault; Dennis Hopper playing The Fool in the style of Charles Manson to Brando’s ….. well, whatever it is that Brando is doing at the end.
With a level of self-entitlement that is extraordinary even by actor standards, Marlon decided that this Vietnam film was all about him. A misshapen mass lumbering in darkness, demanding that everybody stop and watch him rail against the folly of a life spent demanding everybody stop and watch him act. This odyssey grinds to a halt with him.
He sure isn’t the warrior poet that the previous hour and forty five minutes builds him up to be. He is though a compelling insight into how a lot of charisma, a heap of self loathing and a little bit of learning can leave a man twisted and deluded. When it was released the final section was considered to be a disappointing end to an otherwise extraordinary journey but the Brando scenes are a big part of what keeps people coming back to the film. His monologues are so intense that when Coppola terminates one with an abrupt cut to a flame thrower in action, the fire comes as light relief.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
Starring Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, Frederic Forrest. 153 mins
Good old Apocalypse Now; still crazy after all these years. It wasn’t the first movie to tell us that War Is Hell, but the first probably to suggest that that wasn't such a bad thing. It no doubt meant to deliver an anti-war message, but it just got lost in the chaos of making it. The word masterpiece gets bandied about in relation to Apocalypse but really as a war film it is nonsense and folly; which is why it is such a great war film.
Coppola’s Vietnam is an abstraction; all dry ice, long shadows and unexplained light sources. Whether it is an accurate representation of what happened in South East Asia is rather redundant: Apocalypse Now has largely replaced the actual conflict in people’s consciousness. Along with Full Metal Jacket it put a straitjacket on how American movies portray not just Vietnam but war in general; look at how all the Iraq/ War on Terror movies have struggled to make any impact or forge an identity of their own.
The decision to base it on Conrad’s Heart of Darkness was a fortunate one. It meant that however wayward the production went they had a nice simple story – man sails upriver in a jungle to look for another man – on which to hang all the stuff they had filmed.
Considering all the fuss that went into casting the role – everybody from McQueen to Pacino were considered; Harvey Keitel started out but got sacked, Sheen had a heart attack during filming – Willard is more or less a lead bystander, a variety compere introducing the turns. But what turns, Robert Duvall’s one man show of Catch 22; the helicopter assault; Dennis Hopper playing The Fool in the style of Charles Manson to Brando’s ….. well, whatever it is that Brando is doing at the end.
With a level of self-entitlement that is extraordinary even by actor standards, Marlon decided that this Vietnam film was all about him. A misshapen mass lumbering in darkness, demanding that everybody stop and watch him rail against the folly of a life spent demanding everybody stop and watch him act. This odyssey grinds to a halt with him.
He sure isn’t the warrior poet that the previous hour and forty five minutes builds him up to be. He is though a compelling insight into how a lot of charisma, a heap of self loathing and a little bit of learning can leave a man twisted and deluded. When it was released the final section was considered to be a disappointing end to an otherwise extraordinary journey but the Brando scenes are a big part of what keeps people coming back to the film. His monologues are so intense that when Coppola terminates one with an abrupt cut to a flame thrower in action, the fire comes as light relief.
