Apocalypse Now (1979)
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Apocalypse Now is a film with a legendary reputation among cinema fans. Watching the film it easy to see why as it is a stunning piece of technical brilliance, however despite the undoubted talent involved it is questionable whether the film really lives up to its reputation.
The plot is quite straightforward. It is the time of the Vietnam War, a time when a large proportion of America’s youth got sucked into the insanity of the jungle battlegrounds. Captain Benjamin Willard (Martin Sheen) is a veteran of the war who found himself unable to cope with normal life after returning home from the jungle. He volunteers to go back into the jungle, and is recruited by military intelligence to carry out a covert mission. His mission is to “terminate with extreme prejudice” a former US Army officer who seems to have gone insane. Colonel Walter Kurtz (Marlon Brando) has raised an army from the local population who seem to worship him. After he is accused of the murder of South Vietnamese officers the Americans decide he has to be killed. Willard must go upriver on a small patrol boat and move behind enemy lines until he gets to Kurtz’s army. On his way he sees ample evidence of the insanity of war, most famously Robert Duvall’s surfing-obsessed officer who packs his surfboard when raiding an enemy village.
The plot isn’t really the film’s strongest point. The story is fairly simple and it doesn’t really justify the film’s epic 153 minutes running time. It does an effective job of showing the insanity of war on Willard’s journey upriver but things start to go quite badly wrong when he reaches his destination. Kurtz is seriously mad and he spends most of his screen time ranting nonsensically. There are some effective moments in Kurtz’s scenes but most of it is just pointless and it drags on for far too long. To compound the pain, Dennis Hopper’s photo journalist contributes some more inane babbling. The tedium of the last half-hour is a disappointing end to a slow but often compelling film.
It is difficult to care about the characters, none of them are particularly likeable and there isn’t any great amount of character development. Sheen’s hero is particularly bland, almost disinterested in what goes on around him. These problems are compounded by Willard’s awful narration. It is tedious exposition and seems a lazy attempt to overcome the lack of plot progression. Despite the plot problems there are plenty of good scenes – particularly early in the film - and some intermittently excellent dialogue.
It is a minor tragedy that the plot is so weak, since the film is otherwise a stunning achievement. Many of the scenes have justly gone down in cinema history for the compelling, realistic and spectacular visuals. A helicopter attack on a North Vietnamese village and napalm attacks on the jungle are particularly stunning but the film is filled with superb direction by Francis Ford Coppolla. The soundtrack is equally excellent, providing a perfect companion to the visuals – particularly the ‘Ride Of The Valkyries’ accompaniment to the helicopter attack. The background scenery and set design is meticulously detailed and provides an evocative portrayal of the squalid battlegrounds. The acting is also excellent – Brando’s idiosyncratic performance almost manages to overcome the absurdity of his dialogue and Sheen delivers a fine performance. Supporting acting from Hopper, Duvall, Harrison Ford, Frederic Forest and a young Laurence Fishburne is also excellent.
In summary, Apocalypse Now is a technically stunning film with some superb direction and music and a number of excellent scenes. However the film is too long, the plot is too weak and things go seriously wrong in the last half-hour. It is definitely worth watching for the good parts but it is flawed enough that watching the whole film is a bit of a trial.
Rating : 7 / 10
All content ©2003 William Marnoch.
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