My first memory of Apocalypse now came from a young age, on a night where my father was left in charge of me and decided that a pre-teen should watch this film. I would be lying if the nudity and ultra-violence didn’t stand out as I was young and had not experienced that kind of thing in movies often. Another poignant part of my first experience with this movie was marked by the ties I drew to my uncle and the stories he told me about his time with the US marines from 1970-1972. Both viewings of this film were of the directors cut, which includes 49 minutes of unreleased film which brings the runtime to cool three hours and twenty three minutes.
The 70’s really were tough all over for the US. Debuting in August of 1979, the release of Apocalypse Now was followed by some major events related to US international relations and the Civil Rights Movement. Specifically, the Greensboro Massacre and the Iran Hostage Crisis would end up sending massive ripples throughout the country. The film itself would also make waves with pop-culture over time, with many references being made to some of the more unique scenes in the film.
Apocalypse Now was inspired by the novella Heart of Darkness which was written by Joseph Conrad. Within this novel, the protagonist Marlow finds himself captivated by Kurtz, and Ivory trader that has become integrated into the native tribes, and also lost a bit of himself along the way. In juxtaposition with Apocalypse Now we see Martin sheen as Marlow, venturing deep into the Vietnamese jungle to help find an AWOL military officer (Marlon Brando) who has integrated himself into the Vietnamese native population and has completely lost his mind. Francis Ford Coppola speaks in this interview about how he really tried to capture Conrad’s work in the film. I wonder had Coppola not used Vietnam as the backdrop for the story, if the success of the film in the box office would have been the same. I remember the book being a little uninteresting at times, and now find myself applying Conrad’s plot to other backdrops and seeing how they would fit. After the synapses in my brain started firing, scenes like this were all too reminiscent of certain passages from the book; such as the ambush on the crew in the steamboat by the natives with bows and arrows.
Reviewing this film has certainly . Haunting comes to mind when asked to describe it now, and reading current reviews has helped me to sort out where it goes in my own categorization of movies. It appears that many of the current reviews are quite polarized, with some even comparing the cinematography to that of a 3 year old. Many of the reviews either hail it as a masterpiece and award it with a 8-10/10, while others seem to point out “glaring” issues with the film and feel it lives more in the neighborhood of the 1-4/10 rating. In the year 1979, it did really well in the box offices and raked in a whopping 83 million which is 3rd on the list for the year. Now, the movie is considered one of Coppola’s best works, and one of the best films about Vietnam. I did have personal issues with how abruptly the movie ends and the review I linked regarding the cinematography in the last 10 minutes did resonate with me. I wish the last 15 minutes or so had not been so chaotic, with a little more development to tie up the already scattered plot.
It seemed appropriate to end with speaking about how my outlook on things is becoming more cynical with age, however the Vietnam war is just a part of our history that should sting your patriotic side. Some things just turn out to be a lot less noble and true than they appear when you are first introduced to it as an adolescent. I think reflecting on this film has shown me that Francis Ford Coppola was ultimately trying to illustrate the true nature of the war; even if the public wasn’t truly ready to accept it. Mental health has always been a huge issue and the Veterans Affairs office still has a major issue on their hands with veterans from the Vietnam era. My outlook on the Vietnam era is soured by many of the stories my uncle has told me. I respect the vision Coppola had, however I think the movie does come off as a bit insensitive at points when you have a personal connection to the atrocities committed. Maybe that’s just the chip on my shoulder for this one, but I am not going to let it ruin the excellent re-watch that was Apocalypse Now.
Nice memoir! I too had an uncle who served in Vietnam with the U.S. Marines. Sadly, he was killed in action, and he never had the chance to tell stories as your uncle did. I had no idea the far reaching influences of this film on others in the movie and TV industries. Obviously the film is that of legend and from one of the greatest directors Francis Ford Coppola, but the thematic elements and nature of the film, I thought, would keep it from being referenced so much. Boy was I wrong there! On a different note, I enjoyed your posts personal voice, as it really sounds like a person who wrote this. Your conversational tone is something I’d like to incorporate in my future posts, as I find myself reverting to a less personal, robotic style too often.
It sounds like you are quite passionate about this; like Jason commented I like the personal tone that was brought when read, it helped me to understand the movie and what the storyline was based on. the mixed reviews sounds like it must be a type of film that you must watch often; like action, to enjoy and understand it. personally, I don’t watch many action films, but if it has a good storyline- this one sounds like it does- I’m definitely into it.
Hi Andrew I think you did a great job on explaining what the movie Apocalypse was about and I liked how you related to it. I liked how you talked about the background on this movie and you talked about the novel as well. Apocalypse sounds like an interesting movie to watch although you said it is insensitive, I would recommend this movie to people who would like to learn more about war.
Hey Andrew, although I have not seen Apocalypse Now, your review was very well written and it gave me a general understanding of what the movies was about. Not having grown up in the USA, I was never aware of the difficulties which faced the USA during the 1980’s. It was interesting to see how you tied in the memory of your uncle’s stories during his time as a marine with the your memory of first viewing of the movie. I also do not know much about the Vietnam war being a foreigner, and I enjoy movies which tie in real historical references to certain events. I will have to put this on my list for sure! Thank you
I admire the way you include some historical events in your post but I would like it even more if you could build more links between these events and the film. What this film evokes, as you said, is an extreme sense of melancholy and horror. Poignant as it might be, this film does seem to resemble many other war-films in aspects such as elements and cinematographic techniques.