BACK-STORY: Oh my God, where to start? No other film on the list comes close to
having the problems that this film had.
It was originally to be produced by George Lucas, but he went on to make
the first “Star Wars”. Francis Ford
Coppola of “Godfather” fame inherited the endeavor and the script by John
Milius. Milius was inspired by Joseph
Conrad’s Heart of Darkness but envisioned the film as more of a standard
action film than Coppola ended up with.
In fact, Coppola made lots of adjustments to the script to make it
closer to the novel and deeper. He also
called in John Herr of Dispatches fame to add dialogue and write the
narration by Willard (Martin Sheen). The
film was filmed in the Philippines. This
was partly because the Department of Defense took one look at the script and
said not no, but **** no. Ferdinand Marcos
agreed to give the support of the Filipino armed forces. Coppola got the helicopters he needed, but
sometimes they had to leave a shoot to kill communist guerrillas. It took 238 days of shooting and a total of
16 months from start to finish. The length
of time was due to several factors: it
was way over budget, a typhoon wreaked havoc, Martin Sheen suffered a heart
attack, and Coppola was an obsessed perfectionist. It is absolutely amazing that the movie was
not a colossal failure.
The movie was a
critical success (although it does have its detractors). Coppola did make back his investment (thank
goodness) and won the Palme D’Or at Cannes even though he previewed an
incomplete version. Actually, it shared
the top prize with “The Tin Drum” (I s*** you not!). It won Academy Awards for Cinematography and
Sound. It was nominated for Picture
(losing to “Kramer vs. Kramer”!!!), Director (Coppola lost to the awesome
directing of “Kramer vs. Kramer”!!!) Supporting Actor (Robert Duvall - losing to Melvyn Douglas of “Being
There”!!!), Art Direction, Editing, and Adapted Screenplay. The film is ranked #30 on AFIs list of
greatest movies.
To prepare this post I watched both "Apocalypse Now" and "Apocalypse Now Redux" (Coppola's cut) and Coppola's wife's outstanding documentary on the production entitled "Hearts of Darkness". I also listened to the director's commentary and read the pertinent chapters in a biography of Coppola. Sounds like a lot of work, but the movie and the story behind it is fascinating.
OPENING: To the sound of the Doors’ “The End”, helicopters
swoop by as the jungle erupts with napalm.
This transitions to the whirling of a ceiling fan in a seedy Saigon
hotel. A special forces operative named Willard is
going stir crazy. He gets so drunk he
punches a mirror and bleeds all over the bed.
(Sheen was actually drunk for this scene and accidentally cut himself –
the cameras kept rolling.) Two
servicemen roust Willard, he asks “what are the charges?” This is one of the greatest openings in movie
history and alone shut up all the carping that had led up to the debut.
SUMMARY: Willard is taken to an air-conditioned trailer
where a general gives him the mission of assassinating a rogue Col. Kurtz
(Marlon Brando). Kurtz is in command of
his own Montagnard army and is fighting the war successfully on his own terms. He has “murdered” three Vietnamese civilans
because he suspected them of being communist operatives (which they undoubtedly
were). Hey, you can’t murder in
war! The brass have decided
he must be “terminated with extreme prejudice”.
Willard is given a PBR (riverboat) to go up river into Cambodia to bump off
Kurtz. The crew is heterogeneous in the
best tradition of war movies. The Chief
(Albert Hall) is a no-nonsense skipper.
Chef (Frederick Forrest) is a saucier from New Orleans who is just
trying to survive. Lance (Sam Bottoms)
is a drug-addled surfer dude. Clean (a fourteen year old Larry Fishburne) is a
black kid from the Bronx.
The boat hooks up with
the Air Cav to get the boat further up the river. They find the unit in the midst of cleaning up
a battle. There is a news crew (helmed
by Coppola himself in a Hitchcock nod) filming.
“Don’t look at the camera”. They
meet the Pattonesque Col. Kilgore (Robert Duvall) who offers his canteen to a
wounded VC and then is distracted by the realization that Lance is a famous
surfer. Taking the PBR up river will
entail taking a very hairy Viet Cong village.
Kilgore is reluctant until he finds out the village overlooks a good
surfing area. When told it’s “Charlie’s
point” he responds that “Charlie don’t surf!”
The movie enters
odyssey mode at this point. Chef and
Willard make the acquaintance of a tiger in lieu of a cyclops.
“Never get out of the boat!” Next,
it’s a visit with the Sirens in the form of a Playboy show with an audience of
honny grunts. (In case you’re interested
in doing some “research” that’s Playmate of the Year 1974 Cynthia Wood.) Lance water skis to the Stones’
”Satisfaction” (the Stones and the Doors – this must be a Vietnam movie). The actors convinced Coppola to throw in a My
Lai Massacre scene so the PBR stops a sampan to search it. (This actually makes little sense considering
their mission.) A sudden move by a girl
results in the slaughter of the whole family (except their puppy, that would be
cruel).
They arrive at a
bridge marking the border with Cambodia.
Lance is tripping on LSD and so is the movie. He and Willard move through Dante’s Inferno
searching for the commanding officer.
When Willard asks a soldier who the CO is, he responds “ain’t you?” The scene is surrealistic and nightmarish. The bridge marks the boundary between
civilization and the primitive, between sanity and madness.
 |
| "Hey boys, want to see what you're fighting for?" |
After
the bridge scene, the movie enters its “who will survive?” phase. First to go is Clean who is listening to a
cassette tape from his mom (done by Mrs. Fishburne).
Next is the Chief who is killed by a spear. A spear.
Did I mention primitive?
The
surviving trio (the white guys) arrive at Kurtz’s kingdom. The set is an amazing temple with human heads
lying around (actual extras buried to their necks). They meet a gonzo journalist (Dennis Hopper)
who is a big fan of Kurtz. Willard meets
Kurtz in his lair. Kurtz knows why
Willard is there. He cages Willard and
gives him a little present. Chef will
not be cooking in New Orleans after his tour.
For some reason, Kurtz does not kill Willard and instead sets him free
so he can listen to the intellectual pronouncements of a crazy person. (Brando ad-libbed most of his lines, refusing
to follow a script.) Although he’s
obviously nuts, perhaps it takes an insane person to win an insane war. At one point he tells with admiration the
tale of the Viet Cong hacking off the arms of children that had been inoculated by Americans
for smallpox.
 |
| "How do you feel about Cleveland?" (obscure "Tootsie" reference) |
CLOSING: Willard goes into full assassin
mode and sneaks up on the expectant Kurtz.
In parallel shots, the Montagnards hack a water buffalo to death in a
ritual and so does Willard. (Actually
the water buffalo was smaller than Brando.)
Before you wonder why they would hack away at the animal (apparently it
was typical for the tribe brought in by Coppola), why not wonder what kind of
assassin machete hacks their victim?
Kurtz’s last words: “the horror,
the horror”. (He got that line from
looking in a full length mirror.)
Willard grabs Lance (who is still tripping on that last tab from several
days ago – that’s some long-lasting LSD!) and they are allowed to leave because
you know, long live the new king. The
temple complex is then bombed, or it isn’t.
RATINGS:
Acting = A
Action = 8/10
Accuracy
= N/A
Realism = C
(before I hear complaints about it not being meant to be
realistic, Coppola claimed it was "not about Vietnam, it was
Vietnam.")
Plot = B
Cliches = A
Overall = A
WOULD CHICKS DIG IT? That’s a tough call. There are no
female characters other than the Playboy Playmates and they are very much
objectified. It is definitely not your
standard war movie so that is an appealing aspect. The violence, while intense, is not overly
graphic. The cast is attractive (except
Brando – unless your girl is into water buffaloes).
HISTORICAL ACCURACY: “Apocalypse Now” is not meant to be historically accurate. None of the events are based on actual
happenings. Some bend over backwards to
find historical persons in some of the characters, but that is a waste of time. For instance, the Kilgore character is
attributed to several actual soldiers including George Patton, Jr. Hopper's photographer is clearly based on Sean Flynn, Errol's son who became a photojournalist in Vietnam and had a wild persona. More ridiculously, some try to figure out who
Kurtz is supposed to be. Hello, there is
a Kurtz in the source Hearts of Darkness. It’s not complicated.
As far as realism, the movie is
(according to Coppola) supposed to be what Vietnam was really like. Coppola films it as the rock n’ roll, druggie
war. (Every ignorant American say “right
on, man”.) This is too stereotyped. That’s okay if you want to go over the top
with your surrealism, but don’t con us into thinking this was the way the war
was. No doubt there was drug use, but
not to this extent and seldom on the front lines in a combat situation. It is improbable that a tight-ass like Chief
would have allowed his crew to be doing drugs on a suicide mission.
The set pieces are a mixed
lot. The helicopter assault is
exaggerated, but pretty authentic. It is
a fairly accurate rendition of Air Cav tactics and mentality. On the other hand, the bridge scene is pure
cinema. There was no equivalent to it in
the war.
CRITIQUE: The perfectionism and effort that went into the movie shows. Knowing the back-story of the problems
Coppola faced makes the film a remarkable accomplishment. Coppola said the production was “very much
like the way the Americans were in Vietnam.
We had access to too much money, too much equipment; and little by
little we went insane.” The
cinematography by the famous Vittorio Storaro won the Oscar. Kudos especially for filming and lighting
Brando so we are not distracted by his obesity. (The one full shot of him is of a double.) Sound was also awarded. It is
apparent from the opening sound of the helicopter blades that it deserved the
accolades. The music score was by
Coppola’s father Carmine. It is mostly
synthesizer and fits the surrealist mood of the picture perfectly. The music is restrained and does not push
emotional buttons. The Philippine location shooting
provided some nice scenery. The river
and the jungles look like Vietnam. The
sets are amazing – the USO stage, the bridge (which was an actual bridge blown
up by the Japanese in WWII and rebuilt for the film), the temple. By the way, the temple set was rigged up
with $100,000 worth of pyrotechnics for an explosive ending and then Coppola
decided not to end the film that way. He
still blew it up.
The acting is top notch. Harvey Keitel was the original Willard, but
after two weeks Coppola fired him for not being passive enough on camera. Martin Sheen was brought in and was
perfect. It’s easy to overlook his
narrative readings which added greatly to the film. Much of the voice-over deals with him
periodically going over the Kurtz file.
He portrays Willard as a weary assassin who is good at his job and aware
of its moral ambiguities. His trek is a
descent to a lower level of humanity. A
journey into the heart of darkness (get it?).
The supporting cast is
strong. Duvall shows the range that made
him one of our great actors. Keep in
mind that his previous Coppola film was as the uncharismatic Tom Hagen of the
Corleone Family. His performance is
iconic and he dominates his screen time.
The PBR crew is solid. However,
Fishburne does come off as a rookie actor and Bottoms was only partially acting
since he was literally on drugs for most of the shoot. As far as Hopper, the film did revive his
career, but you get the impression he is simply playing himself. The elephant in the room (get it?) was
Brando. He almost drags the last part of
the film down. Coppola does a masterful
job getting something better than disaster from him. I felt sorry for Coppola. After surviving a typhoon and his leading
man’s heart attack, the worst was yet to come.
The plot is flawed. The first two-thirds of the film is
mesmerizing. The odyssey format works
well and the flow from exposition to intense action is fine. The movie builds eerily to arrival at the final
act. There is suspense and pathos. Unfortunately, Coppola was frustrated by how
to end the film. The route he chose may
have been the best under the circumstances, but from the arrival at Kurtz’s
base the film goes a bit flat and loopy.
Kurtz is a major disappointment after spending two hours to get to
him. He is not a mad genius. He’s just insane and past his prime. You have to blame part of this on the
obstinate and ill-prepared Brando. Throwing in the manic Hopper does not help. The film has drawn most of its criticism for
that final part. However, if you
research the production, Coppola made good decisions on plotting. His decision to adhere more closely to the
novel than Milius intended was wise.
Those who find fault with the death of Kurtz should reflect on the fact
that originally the film was supposed to close with Kurtz and Willard battling
shoulder to shoulder against a Viet Cong attack and then Kurtz was to shoot
down an American chopper sent to rescue them.
Gag!
The themes of the film include
the idea that the insanity of war drives people insane. This fits into the standard anti-war aim of
most war movies, but you seldom see this take.
Kurtz has clearly gone insane under the pressures of command. However, isn’t Kilgore more insane than
Kurtz? Willard is sliding down the
slippery slope of sanity the deeper he goes into the wilderness. Another theme is the question of who are the
good guys in Vietnam? Who is a better
role model? Lt. Gen. Corman (G.D.
Spradlin) sitting in his air-conditioned trailer giving out assassination
orders against a decorated American hero who has gone off the reservation or
Kurtz who has his own private army and effectively kills the bad guys? What about
Kilgore?
CONCLUSION: “Apocalypse Now” is one of the great war
films. It has so many memorable moments,
lines, and scenes. I hate to belabor the
point, but tell me something you remember from “Kramer vs. Kramer” (the
“Shakespeare in Love” of 1980). Normally
I only care about what ends up on the screen, but I have to make an exception
for “Apocalypse Now”. It was fascinating
reading about the production, listening to Coppola’s commentary track, and
watching his wife’s documentary “Hearts of Darkness”. You have to give extra credit for Coppola’s
effort. When you know what went into the
making of the picture, you can cut him some slack for the final part. There is little doubt in my mind that the
film had sustained its momentum to the end, it would have to be considered the
greatest war movie ever. As it is, it
ends up as a flawed masterpiece.
the trailer
1. There are no credits at the
beginning so for legal purposes “Apocalypse Now” is chalked on a wall in the
temple complex.
2. The only full shot of Brando
(standing in the doorway of the temple) is of a double. A much taller double.
3. Brando was hired for $3 million
and insisted on being available for only three weeks, 5 days a week. He almost did not show up and when he did he
had lied about being familiar with the book.
He spent the first few days gabbing about topics unrelated to the movie with Coppola in his trailer.
4. Brando hated working with
Hopper. At one point in the film, he
throws something at him and called him a “mutt”. That was improv.
5. Mrs. Coppola had witnessed a
water buffalo sacrifice and urged her husband to incorporate it. That is a real animal that is being hacked to
death. Coppola refused to do a second
take.
6. Sheen was given last rites after
his heart attack.
7. Coppola lost 100 pounds during
the shoot. Brando didn't.
8. Main scenes that were cut (and
restored for “Apocalypse Now Redux”):
- meeting up with the Playmates and exchanging
fuel for sex
- the French plantation – the PBR stops at a
French plantation in an obvious attempt to bring the odyssey back in time to
the 1950s (to show how perfectionism can border on lunacy, Coppola insisted the
wines served at the dinner scene be chilled at a specific temperature! And then he didn’t even use the shot.)
9. Milius was a hawk and wanted one
theme to be that the U.S. did not put in enough effort to win the war. He was upset that the film ended up being
anti-war.
10. The Huey that air-lifted the PBR
could not have performed that task.
11. Hopper refused to learn his
lines, bathe, or change his clothes.
12. In the 35mm theatrical run,
Coppola ran the exploding of the temple behind the credits. In the 70 mm limited release, that footage
was not used.
