Apocalypse Now (1979) Review

Note: I have only seen Apocalypse Now Redux before and I'm not gonna compare the movies as I want to concentrate on the original version.

We all talk about how beautiful some movies are but when it comes being hauntingly beautiful no movies is quite like Apocalypse Now. If you've read about the production problems The Revenant faced it's nothing like Apocalypse Now. Heart attacks, typhoons, Marlon Brando, under age actors, self budgeting and borrowing helicopters. This movie had it all. While you could claim this movie is a miracle the way it turned out but I think with Francis Ford Coppola's direction was only aided by production problems.

The story is simple with Benjamin L. Willard (Michael Sheen) being sent to terminate a rogue US army commander Col. Kurtz (Marlon Brando). However what draws us back to the movie almost 40 years later is its characters and their development into the heart of Vietnam. This is obviously an intended metaphor from Coppola but one of the most debated aspects of the movie is what it's truly about.

The most common argument is that it's about the Vietnam War and what it does to men (which I believe is just the surface) but I think the movie goes to great lengths to just show how barbaric humans are and how little we have furthered mentally as a species. The war here is just used as a backdrop that was suited for the period the same way Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness was set in the Congo the same time the book was written.

With a movie this grand and brilliant not all of the success can be attributed to Coppola, he was surrounded by people who worked on the movie on a technical level who all brought their A game and that's putting it lightly. The first great technical aspect that you can see in the movie is the cinematography by vittorio storaro. His images here have some of the blackest blacks you will ever see and it only helps intensify the colours we see on screen. The colour palette mainly consists of oranges and storaro uses them here effectively unlike today's blockbusters which only uses the colours of orange and blue to give our eyes erections. Even when other colours are used they are used for story instead of for the sake of it.

We all know the Oscars for giving awards to the wrong movie and it's no exception here. It lost best picture and director to Kramer vs Kramer (dir. by ...). After watching the movie you would at least think the movie would've been awarded best editing. But no. I believe this to be snub on the level of Citizen Kane not winning best picture. While fading shots into one another had been around well before 1979 there is no feature film before or since that has used it so well. The movie never slows down or speeds up in pacing where it shouldn't and the editing team didn't cut where they didn't need to. This led to some of best set pieces in a war film until Saving Private Ryan.

If you've never seen the movie you've probably heard of the Ride of the Valkyries set piece. Of all the great moments in the movie this scene alone would've won it best sound mixing at the Oscars. While I haven't been fortunate enough yet to see it in cinemas yet, I think the best way to explain is to share to you part of Roger Ebert's review for the redux version of the movie.

I was reminded of the film's world premiere at Cannes in 1979, when the old Palais was so filled with light and sound that I felt enveloped; the helicopters in the famous village assault could first be heard behind me, and then passed overhead, and yes, there were people who involuntarily ducked.

With cinema experienced becoming fewer and further between it's movies like this that make you realise the importance of film and how digital cinema now is essentially tv on a big screen.

Probably the least talked part of the move outside of Marlon Brando is the acting. When it comes to all time great performances Martin Sheen's is up there and he's backed by a strong supporting cast with the likes of Robert Duvall and Laurence Fishburne. One thing I have questioned over this movie is ‘are we as an audience meant to sympathise for these characters?’. The main group of characters that follow Willard on his mission are easily aggravated and in one scene kill local people. However since they don’t know where or what they are doing (as Willard’s mission is classified) and throughout the movie they are still portrayed as innocent.

When you get a chance at night or in a dark room, crank up the volume to 11 and be prepared to experience a movie not just view it. Of the all time classics this is one of the few that was made post 1968 and outside of Europe that stands out. The direction was backed by Coppola's troubles while filming and it topped off a perfect decade that other filmmakers can only dream of.

Overall Score: 9.9/10

What did you think of this movie? Do you like the smell of Napalm in the morning?

#Coppola #MarlonBrando #MartinSheen #Vietnam #War #Epic #RobertDuvall