War - Old Movies

Old Movies

E-mail Subscription

Receive an e-mail notification of new posts on this site:

Vimu Subscription

Apocalypse Now

June 8th 2006 06:27

Apocalypse Now (1979)

As with a lot of great films, it took me a while to finally get around to watching this. Anyone familiar with it should bear in mind that this is a review of the recently released 'Redux' version, featuring extra footage. I haven't seen the original ('proper'?) version, so I can't really compare the two.

'Apocalypse Now' is a war film. Many consider it to be the Vietnam War film. I'm not sure I agree with that, there is, after all, 'Platoon' and 'The Deer Hunter' to contend with, but it's certainly up there as one of major pieces of film to deal with Vietnam. Loosely based on the novel 'The Heart of Darkness' the film focuses on a U.S. Captain's (Martin Sheen) mission to seek out and assassinate a rogue U.S. Colonel (Marlon Brando) deep in the Cambodian jungle. The movie tracks the Captain and his team's progress down the river through war-torn Vietnam, and as they get closer and closer to their destination they descend further and further into the madness of the war.

First off, this film is insane. A mixture of the macabre, humourous and heart-stopping, this is the filmic personification of the madness of war. Each stop of the Captain's boat leads to more and more inexplicably crazy situations, and the eventual destination is an unsettling trip into the surreal. The director (Francis Ford Coppola) displays possibly his most ingenious use of imagery, right from the outset (the fan blades substituting for a helicopter's) to the end (Marlon Brando's face forever etched in shadows, a visual descent into the depths of insanity).

The acting is all top-shelf stuff too. Sheen is suitably toughened and haunted as a man on the edge. Brando resists going too far over the top, and gives possibly his last great performance before descending into obese laziness. Robert Duvall is brief but memorable as Kilgore - cue memorable line; "I love the smell of napalm in the morning'. And Dennis Hopper is great and all spazzed out as a hyperkinetic hippy journalist.

The film, at times, almost borders on pretentious (Ford Coppola's artsy "My film isn't about Vietnam, it is Vietnam" opinion on it certainly does, at least) but it's saved by outstanding performances, remarkable direction and cinematography, and great dialogue. I'll just leave you with a great line from Brando that just about sums up the film; "They let us drop bombs on people, but we weren't allowed to write 'fuck' on our planes because it was obscene".

Robert Duvall in 'Apocalypse Now'

TRIVIA: Laurence Fishburne lied about his age (he was 15) in order to get the role of Tyrone. Watch out for a short cameo by Harrison Ford at the film's beginning.

'Apocalypse Now' is reputed to be one of the worst shoots in cinema history, taking more than 3 years to complete. Harvey Keitel was original cast as Captain Willard but was later replaced by Martin Sheen. Sheen then suffered a heart attack and the film had to wait for his recovery in order to continue. Amongst various other film-making catastrophes, the film was also dogged by a typhoon (!)

'Apocalypse Now' was nominated for 8 Academy Awards. It won 2 of them, for Best Cinematography and Best Sound. The other 6 nominations were; Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Robert Duvall), Best Screenplay, Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Director and Best Film Editing.

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Luke - Category: War

Email this Post to a Friend

Gallipoli

June 7th 2006 08:46

A rather striking poster for Gallipoli

A landmark of Australian Cinema. 'Gallipoli' (1980) is a distinctly Australian-looking film that deals with an important part of Australian history. Along with 'Breaker Morant', it's probably one of the most groundbreaking films in this country. And it's got young Mel Gibson in it too.

Any Aussie school-kid can tell you about Gallipoli, the events and the film, most likely. The tragedy of WW1's war of attrition has never been more evident, or struck our soil as much, than through the acts of senseless slaughter that befell thousands of Australian soldiers in Turkey. Peter Weir's film hammers this home by spending it's first half following two talented Western Australian athletes (Jack and Frank) on their quest to join up and fight in the war. The responsibility for the waste of Australian youth and talent is put squarely in the hands of the British by the film's end, as Jack and Frank reach the front line only in the last half hour to find that the 'Great War' is an inhuman machine fed by miscommunication and a complete disregard for life.

Weir's direction is an odd mixture of gentle nostalgia and dreamlike cinematography... highlighted by an alien-sounding sub-electronic soundtrack, probably one of the most original and effective scores in film. The film's emphasis on setting and historical accuracy goes a long way to explaining why every school library in Australia possesses a copy, and the story itself relies a great deal on the attitudes of the era to cultivate an understanding of character motivation and the shock that this war was to the society that birthed it.

Despite it's tragic nature, this is quite a beautiful film. Weir's signature direction is firmly stamped in place; an unearthly vision of history, with equal portions of regret, humour and doom. If you can't remember it from school, or your teachers never got around to showing it to you, check it out - if only to see a uniquely Australian war film, or young Mel Gibson.