The definitive Vietnam movie.It describes the journey of Captain Willard ( Martin Sheen in his most famous role) who is sent on a mission to assassinate Colonel Kurtz ( Marlon Brando in an unforgettable cameo) who is presumed to have turned insane and rogue.
Jim Morrison and Francis Ford Coppola were friends at UCLA.The movie begins with Jim's immortal “The End” set to the imagery of blazing trees and explosions amidst gunshots and helicopters running amok juxtaposing with Willard lying on his bed dazing at the ceiling fan in confusion.One of the rare movies with scenes and dialogues that have burned themselves into popular conciousness like “ I love the smell of napalm in the morning” , “ Charlie,don't surf!!!” , and of course “The horror ,the horror”.. plus the usage of Richard Wagner's “Ride of the Valkyries” to indicate the mindset of evil soldiers who find it amusing..this famous scene even though is brilliantly shot has an ironical twist to it..
The thing that fascinated me the most about this movie is that even though Willard is astonished that a celebrated Colonel like Kurtz had gone over to the dark side,the more and more information he gathers about Kurtz the more he is in awe of Kurtz..these particular scenes with Willard talking to himself and going over Kurtz's files impressed me the most....even the river they go along on the way is a symbol for life...Life is like a river it is bound to be filled with obstacles, we should know how to handle them..
One of the most controversial movies of all time, it was also one of the most difficult movies to produce for Coppola..Shot in Phillipines it contains perhaps the most beautiful cinematography by Vittorio Storaro especially when the screen is filled with golden orange frames...the movie indicates the madness of war in a horrifying scene when an innocent young woman is killed mercilessly because she made the mistake of reaching out for her pet puppy..also the severed heads are sure to upset anyone's apetite...
which brings me to the astonishing climax where Kurtz is killed by Willard set to the final verse of “ the end”...i loved the slow camera work of Willard slowly rising from the mud and the scene where he just combs his hair in bedazzlement after the killing...even though the sight of a water buffalo getting slaughtered is hard to digest it blended perfectly within the scene...
Robbed at the Oscars..one of the last gems of the fantastic 1970's....Apocalypse Now is a visual delight...controlled direction...immortal performances from the lead actors..highly recommended....
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