Coppola is one of those directors who's tried his hand at everything, never really settling down. He's so in love with the cinema, so curious, that he's never truly satisfied to return to the same subject matter twice. In fact, outside of the Godfather films, he's never really revisited a genre. So Apocalypse Now is, at once, a definition of what he did, and nowhere near a definition of what he did. It doesn't contain any of Coppola's usual stylistic touches because he really has no formula or pattern for how he makes his films, and that's why it is his signature film.
The film is allegedly based on Heart of Darkness, the novel, but outside of a few key parallels, the two are very different stories, albeit sharing a similar nihilistic tone and a few moments. We follow Martin Sheen as the alcoholic Captain Ben J. Willard, a secret operative who has grown more and more psychotic in his time away from the action.
All he wants is to be put back in the field. "Every day, Charlie grows stronger while I grow weaker". He thrives on the blood lust of battle and can't take another day cooped up in this room. The opening scene is immediately gripping, with the choppers flying overhead and Willard simply going insane in a bedroom somewhere in Saigon, waiting for his next mission.
The famous shot from the opening scene is of course Sheen punching the mirror. This was not in the script. A lot of things weren't. Coppola nearly lost his mind in real life making this film, and in fact, the documentary on the making of the movie is, in many ways, less predictable and just as fascinating as the film itself. Unfortunately, we only have time to actually review the movie.
The movie is loaded from end to end with unforgettable scenes and incredible characters. Before we even get into the main cast, we have Cockroach, who appears for a single scene in the film during a fight over a key bridge in Vietnam. He sleeps through the battle while the others defend, but when a lone V. C. Sits amongst his friends bodies in the dark, shouting insults, Cockroach is awoken, he fires a grenade into the air which arcs perfectly and silences the V. C. Immediately, and then Cockroach goes back to bed. Robert Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore is one of the greatest one-scene characters ever, ordering his men to surf while mortar fire hits the waves.
This isn't even getting into the main cast, these characters appear for one scene and then disappear from the film forever. Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz doesn't even appear until the very end, but his presence, his mere existence, casts a shadow that commands the entirety of the film, despite his limited screen time, or perhaps, mythologized by his non-presence.
The film succeeds on every possible level. It is endearing, at times, when you see the camaraderie between the men on Willard's boat. It's funny, it's exciting with some of the greatest action set pieces ever put to film, it's a jaw dropping piece of cinematic art, yet... The pessimism, the nihilism of the two main characters, Willard and Kurtz, eventually takes over and overwhelms every other aspect of the film.
Coppola himself claims Rumble Fish as his personal favorite amongst his own work, but his fans are typically split between Apocalypse Now and The Godfather Part 2. It's up to the individual viewer, but this one is, at the very least, his most insane.
The film is allegedly based on Heart of Darkness, the novel, but outside of a few key parallels, the two are very different stories, albeit sharing a similar nihilistic tone and a few moments. We follow Martin Sheen as the alcoholic Captain Ben J. Willard, a secret operative who has grown more and more psychotic in his time away from the action.
All he wants is to be put back in the field. "Every day, Charlie grows stronger while I grow weaker". He thrives on the blood lust of battle and can't take another day cooped up in this room. The opening scene is immediately gripping, with the choppers flying overhead and Willard simply going insane in a bedroom somewhere in Saigon, waiting for his next mission.
The famous shot from the opening scene is of course Sheen punching the mirror. This was not in the script. A lot of things weren't. Coppola nearly lost his mind in real life making this film, and in fact, the documentary on the making of the movie is, in many ways, less predictable and just as fascinating as the film itself. Unfortunately, we only have time to actually review the movie.
The movie is loaded from end to end with unforgettable scenes and incredible characters. Before we even get into the main cast, we have Cockroach, who appears for a single scene in the film during a fight over a key bridge in Vietnam. He sleeps through the battle while the others defend, but when a lone V. C. Sits amongst his friends bodies in the dark, shouting insults, Cockroach is awoken, he fires a grenade into the air which arcs perfectly and silences the V. C. Immediately, and then Cockroach goes back to bed. Robert Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore is one of the greatest one-scene characters ever, ordering his men to surf while mortar fire hits the waves.
This isn't even getting into the main cast, these characters appear for one scene and then disappear from the film forever. Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz doesn't even appear until the very end, but his presence, his mere existence, casts a shadow that commands the entirety of the film, despite his limited screen time, or perhaps, mythologized by his non-presence.
The film succeeds on every possible level. It is endearing, at times, when you see the camaraderie between the men on Willard's boat. It's funny, it's exciting with some of the greatest action set pieces ever put to film, it's a jaw dropping piece of cinematic art, yet... The pessimism, the nihilism of the two main characters, Willard and Kurtz, eventually takes over and overwhelms every other aspect of the film.
Coppola himself claims Rumble Fish as his personal favorite amongst his own work, but his fans are typically split between Apocalypse Now and The Godfather Part 2. It's up to the individual viewer, but this one is, at the very least, his most insane.
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