Apocalypse now and forever

Rating: 8/10 (4 February 2003)

Coppola's apocalyptic vision belongs to an ever present now. The dark sides of human character, the purgatory we frequently create for ourselves, unwillingly - that just doesn't end. It is often said that Heaven is right here, right now - well, if so, hell is too.
When the soldiers take the boat up-river, deeper into a strange and terrible land, it is like going on the river Styx to that domain, where mercy ends. Also, it's the long and troublesome travels of Odysseus, before coming home - to find that home is irrevocably changed. And it's Stanley's long search for Dr. Livingstone.
Mythical grounds. The water of the subconscious, the jungle of irrationality - man's curse and blessing in one.
Marlon Brando is divine in his acting. As soon as he appears, the long time leading up to it just disappears, and he is a demon, a monster from the beyond - still, so real, so true as an archetype of human dignity, maybe the most fundamental of our talents, gone awry. The horror.
This is the first time I see the film, in 2003, more than 20 years after it premiered. I chose to wait. So many movies deteriorate in a much shorter period than that, but this one, I dare say, is enforced by time, and will continue to be.