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APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)
I think I’m right in saying that a three year film shoot is enough to make any cast or crew member go insane, no doubt all the cast and crew who worked together on Francis Ford Coppola’s epic ‘Apocalypse Now’ would verify this.
After months of speculation Hollywood’s doubters were convinced the plug was to be pulled on Coppola’s expensive but slowly refining project. Especially after actor Martin Sheen became seriously ill following a heart attack on location in the Philippines.
Dozen’s of crewmembers were also feeling the strain including the inspirational director himself. Somehow and from somewhere they managed to pull everything together, get Sheen back on location and complete a film, which was to simply become a legend.
Based on the novella ‘Heart of Darkness’ by Joseph Conrad, ‘Apocalypse Now’ focuses on army Captain ‘Willard’ (Sheen) who, after weeks of wishing for an assignment, is finally handed a tour of duty, which would plunge him into the depths of the Cambodian jungle. Wishes don’t always come true.
His mission is to track down a rogue colonel named Kurtz, played by Marlon Brando in what I and most others believe to be his last critically acclaimed performance. Kurtz has broken away from his unit forming an army of tribesmen creating a sanctuary of their own. Willard’s instruction is to find Kurtz and “terminate his command”.
Willard climbs aboard a patrol boat who’s crew would become his company for the foreseeable future. Accompanied by a selection of dossiers on Kurtz, Willard begins the long journey into the heart of the jungle. As the trip transpires Willard encounters some memorable characters including Colonel Kilgore’s ‘surfing’ unit and a spurious pot-smoking photojournalist, played by Dennis Hopper. Although some might argue whether Hopper actually ‘acted’ this part or merely played himself.
As Willard’s journey takes him deeper into the jungle he begins to think like Kurtz, taking in the colonel’s dossiers as the horrors of war and innocence unfold in front of him causing inner conflict. Willard’s perception and mood towards a mad, ineffectual war slowly changes as his feelings reach the surface.
This is a war movie but don’t let that put you off if you aren’t that way inclined. ‘Apocalypse Now’ is first and foremost a characterisation of individuals who have suffered and who are suffering at the hands of combat. Every role in this movie is played with perfection from Sheen’s ‘Willard’ to a very young and inexperienced Laurence Fishburne as ‘Tyrone Miller’ a member of Willard’s unit accompanying him on his mission, and lets not forget Robert Duvall’s brilliant ‘Colonel Kilgore’.
Going back to my earlier points about the length of time it took to make this picture and all the trials and tribulations of putting Coppola’s classic together, the “will they” “won’t they” of the doubters who thought Coppola’s chance had run its course. The conclusion is that today what we are left with is nothing short of a masterpiece and if the fact that this film took so long to make could be overlooked from time to time then maybe any negativity that has surrounded this picture in the past would diminish.
“I love the smell of Napalm in the morning. The smell, you know that gasoline smell. Smells like victory.” – Colonel Kilgore.
Stuart Evans
I think I’m right in saying that a three year film shoot is enough to make any cast or crew member go insane, no doubt all the cast and crew who worked together on Francis Ford Coppola’s epic ‘Apocalypse Now’ would verify this.
After months of speculation Hollywood’s doubters were convinced the plug was to be pulled on Coppola’s expensive but slowly refining project. Especially after actor Martin Sheen became seriously ill following a heart attack on location in the Philippines.
Dozen’s of crewmembers were also feeling the strain including the inspirational director himself. Somehow and from somewhere they managed to pull everything together, get Sheen back on location and complete a film, which was to simply become a legend.
Based on the novella ‘Heart of Darkness’ by Joseph Conrad, ‘Apocalypse Now’ focuses on army Captain ‘Willard’ (Sheen) who, after weeks of wishing for an assignment, is finally handed a tour of duty, which would plunge him into the depths of the Cambodian jungle. Wishes don’t always come true.
His mission is to track down a rogue colonel named Kurtz, played by Marlon Brando in what I and most others believe to be his last critically acclaimed performance. Kurtz has broken away from his unit forming an army of tribesmen creating a sanctuary of their own. Willard’s instruction is to find Kurtz and “terminate his command”.
Willard climbs aboard a patrol boat who’s crew would become his company for the foreseeable future. Accompanied by a selection of dossiers on Kurtz, Willard begins the long journey into the heart of the jungle. As the trip transpires Willard encounters some memorable characters including Colonel Kilgore’s ‘surfing’ unit and a spurious pot-smoking photojournalist, played by Dennis Hopper. Although some might argue whether Hopper actually ‘acted’ this part or merely played himself.
As Willard’s journey takes him deeper into the jungle he begins to think like Kurtz, taking in the colonel’s dossiers as the horrors of war and innocence unfold in front of him causing inner conflict. Willard’s perception and mood towards a mad, ineffectual war slowly changes as his feelings reach the surface.
This is a war movie but don’t let that put you off if you aren’t that way inclined. ‘Apocalypse Now’ is first and foremost a characterisation of individuals who have suffered and who are suffering at the hands of combat. Every role in this movie is played with perfection from Sheen’s ‘Willard’ to a very young and inexperienced Laurence Fishburne as ‘Tyrone Miller’ a member of Willard’s unit accompanying him on his mission, and lets not forget Robert Duvall’s brilliant ‘Colonel Kilgore’.
Going back to my earlier points about the length of time it took to make this picture and all the trials and tribulations of putting Coppola’s classic together, the “will they” “won’t they” of the doubters who thought Coppola’s chance had run its course. The conclusion is that today what we are left with is nothing short of a masterpiece and if the fact that this film took so long to make could be overlooked from time to time then maybe any negativity that has surrounded this picture in the past would diminish.
“I love the smell of Napalm in the morning. The smell, you know that gasoline smell. Smells like victory.” – Colonel Kilgore.
Stuart Evans
hey, I could be wrong. 