Written and Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Based on the book "Heart of Darkness" by Joeseph Conrad
Winner of 2 Academy Awards (Sound and Cinematography), Nominated for Best Picture
Starring Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburne, Robert Duvall and Harrison Ford.
THIS ALMOST MADE NUMBER ONE ON MY LIST. ALMOST, but my main number one was just too damn perfect. Not that THIS movie isn't perfect, there's some flaws but its damn near close.
Apocalypse Now tells the story of a damaged yet skillful solider Captain Willard (Martin Sheen's greatest performance besides THE WEST WING) is sent on a dangerous mission to assassinate a Former Green Beret who went ape crazy and claimed he was a GOD within a hidden tribe in the jungle of cambodia. Simple mission right? wrong. Paired up with a crew of crazed soldiers, they head up to seek this "classified" mission during the hell of vietnam. The film is never clear as to what year it takes place but it doesn't matter; the movie clearly shows that Vietnam was a death zone mentally and physically to our young men in the 60's.
From the very first shot of the film, Francis shows the heart of man as the beautiful, peaceful trees of the jungle blowing in the wind EXPLODES in flames after a chopper passes through frame-EVIL. Jim Morrison's voice from the song "THE END" hums like a ghost letting the audience know you are in for some deep, tramatic shit. What follows is a super-imposition shot (and there's ton of these in this film) of Sheen staring at us with a spinning ceiling fan letting us know we're just as crazy or heading to BECOME crazy during this journey. This film is dark from the beginning to the end. It holds so much power to make you feel exactly what these soldiers, or at least the characters in the film, felt as they head for a world of chaos: dirty, deranged, depressed and most of all AFRAID. By the end of the movie where Jim Morrison's voice is heard through a whisper again, you want Williard to end ALL OF THIS and it all comes through the wonderful, well deserved Oscar win for Cinematography. I have to say in my opinion, every shot in the film looks like a painting.
The making of the film alone is one of the reasons why I truly love this film, Francis and everyone involved. A film that was suppose to take at least 6 weeks to shoot took a total of 16 months in pre-production, 2 years in post (OMG) due to the destructive monsoon weather in the philippines, over budget and actors basically "losing it".
Here are the FACTS in case you don't know:
1. George Lucas was set to direct this film but was too occupied with Star Wars (THANK GOD)
2. Steve McQueen, Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson were up to play Williard but declined. Harvey Keitel was hired and fired after 2 weeks replacing him with Sheen. There's footage of Keitel's scenes on the documentary "HEART OF DARKNESS"
3. Brando's character "Kurtz" based on the book, was suppose to be real skinny and frail due to malnutrition but Brando being BRANDO at the time, went the opposite, gained tremendous weight not out of method acting but out of I DONT GIVE A FUCK, PAY ME MORE method, along other problems he gave Francis.
4. Martin Sheen was a severe alcoholic at the time and appears drunk in the opening scene; within production he would suffer a heart attack.
5. Laurence Fishburne (aka Larry Fishburne) lied about his age saying he was 16 when he was actually 14. When the film was completed he was 17.
There are so many facts on this film that it would be way too long to discuss; however the testament this crew and Francis went through inspires me as a filmmaker and actor that the SHOW MUST GO ON and go on RIGHT during the storms. It almost reminds me of what Sir David Lean wen't through with LAWRENCE OF ARABIA; both men made masterpieces when their backs were against the wall, facing termination from the studios.
I don't consider Apocalypse Now a WAR film. I view it as a war within mankind-the evil that man performs on a daily basis just to get what they want and need and sometimes dying for. The soldiers in the film fought all their battles from machines to spears and knifes-they were heading up to the river when in reality and mentally they were going backwards. Its truly a heart of darkness when you have the hunger to kill, especially killing when your forced by the government to do so (another topic, another time).
No matter how you look at it, WAR IS EVIL and no good comes out of it. I always think what would Willard's life become after the mission? In my opinion, worst than the beginning. He would stay in the military until it killed him. I don't think he would survive the world outside the jungle-I could see him being so traumatized and mentally damaged that he probably would've committed suicide. Truly a heart of darkness.
I'm a dork like that. I think beyond.
Hey, don't blame me. Francis developed a great character I care about.
Such a great film.
BIG FACT:
There's no opening credits nor is there an ending to this film. When it was premiered in 1979, audience received a program with credits. After the great super-impostition of Brando saying "the horror" with an ancient stone in the background, the film went to black at that was the end. Two versions of the ending were shown years later: 1. Willard leaves on the boat and the military air strike team blows up the villiage, killing everyone in it. The Redux version shows ending credits.
-end of line
NEXT: FILM #2
"You were too old to be called anything else. You were always too old"
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