MYST Post #3: Apocalypse Now

After watching The Deer Hunter, I discussed it with my dad, and he really recommended Apocalypse Now. Both movies revolve around the Vietnam War and the physical and mental struggles that people went through. I also thought it would be a good movie to watch because we had just discussed Marlon Brando with his New York school based acting and Dennis Hopper in class, and both of these actors are in the movie.

I thought it was a nice coincidence. 

My attention was captured from the very first scene. From the sounds of helicopters fading in and out coupled with the close-up shots of the helicopters' blades passing through the frame, to The Door's "The End" playing while napalm burns in a Vietnamese forrest, I knew I was in for an interesting film. (This opening scene was part of the Best Music Moments in Film on Shortlist and I agree completely.)

One of the recurring themes throughout the movie was the sad attempt to normalize the situation in Vietnam. General Kilgor, played by Robert Duvall, demands one of the soldiers from southern California to go surfing during combat. The general is adamant that he surfs, all the while bombs are exploding all around them and bullets are whizzing by. (I also liked the cowboy hat Kilgor wore--a nice connection to Dr. Strangelove)

One of the interesting things Coppola does in the film is juxtapose images/actions of complete savagery and killing with images/actions of compassion, sweetness, and innocence. For example, the boat carrying Captain Willard up the river into Cambodia to find a rouge colonel, Kurtz, stops a vietnamese boat to search it. It is the protocol, but Willard is upset they are stopping because that was not part of the mission. Lance goes on the boat to search it, and he obviously can't handle it. He starts violently rummaging through the barrels of rice and other goods, and one of the young soldiers has a machine gun turret constantly aimed at the Vietnamese people, creating a very tense situation. Lance is shouting incomprehensible words to himself, and all of a sudden one of the Vietnamese women runs to the back, and the young soldier opens fire, shooting everything and everyone. Lance goes to the back of the boat to try to see whatever the woman was running to protect, fully prepared to find ammunition and other weapons for the Vietcong. Instead, he finds a Yellow Labrador puppy. A puppy. All of the savage, violent killing for a puppy, the epitome of innocence. These splices do a very good job in emphasizing the absurdity of the war. 

Going into the movie, I had no idea it was based on the book Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Kurtz, in both forms of media, was once a respected, brilliant, successful person. In the book, he was in the Ivory business, and in the film, he was a colonel. Both Kurtzs are said to have gone insane, breaking off from normalized society, conquering natives with savagery. The movie also shares the book's river theme. Instead of going down the river through the Congo, the river in Vietnam is the setting. The narrator also telling the story as it has already happened is shared amongst the film and book. 

The similarities between the book and film bothered me in one way. I feel the book shows the absolute domination of a people, and in this case, the Africans during the colonization/ivory business in Africa. The movie, on the other hand, shares some of this, but this wasn't its main purpose. The film, in my opinion, had a lot of anti-war sentiments, not just for America, but world-wide. This is where the similarities fall short between the book and movie. This is bothersome because the book and movie didn't share the same purpose, but they had the same story. Maybe I would've felt differently if I hadn't read the book this year in my lit class, but my opinion was already tainted going into the movie. 

The cinematic elements used in the film were very cool. As the film went on, the scenes and shots got darker with more contrast, and the few scenes with Kurtz exemplify this perfectly. His whole face would be obscured by shadow, only parts of it being illuminated by red light, giving him the creepy, powerful aura Coppola was going for. As I mentioned earlier, there was a lot of juxtapositions of contradicting images, disorienting the viewer. I also noticed some good use of some dutch angles, like when Willard and Lance go out to get some of those "damned mangoes" and they are walking through a thick part of a forest when a tiger all of sudden jumps out and seriously frightens them. The dutch angle was perfect for this scene because it reflects the absurdity of the situation; both men were expecting people, the Vietcong, to stalk them, not a tiger. 

This was a really cool movie that connected with a lot of class related topics this year for me, which made it special because I felt I had a basis for critiquing it. Overall, I give it 4 out of 5 stars.