Richly textured, pretty deep

Rating: Null/10 (1 February 2002)

I've never thought this movie was really about Viet Nam, but rather used the Vietnam War as a context, a backdrop about much more complex, and philosophical issues. It has very little, it seems, to say about the political or military experience, in that war. However, it has enormous things to say about humanity, madness, death, nature, technology, and civilization. I suppose any book or movie will mean different things to different people, and seeing something may not have been what the writer intended--but I don't think that detracts or means its false, sometimes writers or artists don't fully appreciate their own work (always makes me think about the scene in "Back to School" where Kurt Vonnegut ghost writes an analysis of his book Slaughterhouse Five for Rodney Dangerfield, only to have the professor declare it to be the worst paper she'd ever seen.
As for Apocalypse Now, the basic story or central purpose seems, to me, to show how thin the veneer of civilization really is--that our darker savage selves are only to ready to come struggling to the surface. As Martin Sheen goes up the river, he loses sight of civilization, as if jungle were sucking it up, overcoming all of it. I've seen it also described as a journey back in time, which in some sense is the same idea--to that end, the last twenty minutes or so with Brando shaded in darkness is genius.

As he sits there pondering the true nature of man--and how in warfare, horror becomes a friend--you can see the culmination of Willard's trip; the high tech helicopters and munitions have been stripped away (seeing the downed helicopter just before reaching Kurtz was an interesting example). When Chef says "I don't care where my soul goes as long as it isn't here," he's looking straight into the black nature of humanity. It's interesting to compare the conversation Willard has at the very beginning of the movie, with the General and the CIA, in the comfort of an urban setting, with a nice lunch, silverware, calmly talking about assassinating Kurt; with the last conversation between Sheen and Kurtz in the middle of the jungle, surrounded by barbarians and death, without the first of civilization's comforts. The General talks blandly about "good and evil" and the need for control, to eliminate the insane Kurtz's command. Kurtz on the other hand talks about horror--and the will to butcher, it's almost like he sees a place beyond good and evil (must have been reading his Nietzsche).

The Redux version adds a few things to the original that tend to detract from the tempo and the flow, and aren't needed. I'm still glad Coppola put it out, I find it interesting to see different versions, but for anyone who's seeing it for the first time, definitely check out the original before going to Redux. Both are great movies, but, as others have noted, one scene seems bizarre--when Willard steals the surfboard, it's just totally out of character as is his swapping fuel for some play time with the bunnies.

This is not an upbeat movie, it seems to portray humanity as a creature of nature--and not in a good way: Nature comes off as teeming, brutal, endlessly damp and unforgiving, and ultimately--cruel. Civilization is easily lost, and the "better angels of our nature" are mythic. I'd expect others have different views and interpretations, which is another virtue of this movie--it's very rich and complex. I'd suggest it to anyone who likes a thoughtful flick.