Apocalypse Now Review

Rating: 4/10 (12 May 2014)

Let's talk about Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece named Apocalypse Now.
First of all it is important to have some information about the movie including the plot, the historical context, and the cast of course.
The story unfolds in South Vietnam more exactly in Saigon in 1968. Captain Benjamin Willard is designated by Colonel Lucas to handle a mission whose aim is to 'terminate' the obscure and mysterious Colonel Walter Kurtz whose insane and atrocious missions had killed millions of Vietnamese. In spite of the multiple hardships and incidents Willard and his boat crew had coped with, indeed they will be killed one by one and Willard will remain the only survivor, he will reach his goal killing Kurtz which had gradually increased during the boat journey, becoming the strongest wish he ever wanted to achieve at all costs.
The move deals with the Vietnam war. It was triggered by the will of some powerful countries like Vietnam (a French colony) to declare their independence in 1945. In 1954 was the battle of Dien Ben Fu and the French Army was defeated by Vietnamese, consequently Vietnam has been divided in two parts, the North being communist and the South being capitalist. Between 1963 and 1975, an increasing number of US troops were sent there in order to prevent a communist takeover in South Vietnam. Finally in April 1975 which was actually the end of the war, North Vietnamese troops entered the South and ousted American troops.
The main characters of the movie are :
Captain Benjamin Willard played by Martin Sheen. He is the US army special forces assassin and the protagonist of the film. He alludes to a certain kind of morality but he isn't really sympathetic and can even be ruthless.
Colonel Walter Kurtz played by Marlon Brando. He is regarded as Willard's foe and the aim of the boat crew journey. He has invented himself a godlike figure judged by nobody, not even himself. He believes in death as well as he thinks that it's his only destiny.
General R. Corman played by G.D. Spradlin. He is the military superior who outlines Willard's mission.
Colonel Lucas played by Harrison Ford. He is Corman's junior officer.
Apocalypse Now a quite complex movie.
In my personal opinion war is worthless and has always been the major problem of human beings. It obviously goes along with a serious loss of innocent peoples' lives and that infuriates me. Why should ordinary people pay on their back the mistakes of others who quarrel and never agree?
Insanity really disturbs me, especially the strange personality of Colonel Kurtz. A puzzling atmosphere is settled right at the beginning of the film because Kurtz is shown as a mysterious person that is to say, we don't see him but only hear his voice on a tape recorder when General Corman presents Willard's mission, I can even add that the sound of his voice conveys his hidden personality and his dark side which gets the upper hand on him. Why such an eerie personality and life style ? It's quite confusing because in the past General Corman acknowledges him as a very brilliant, outstanding and praiseworthy officer with wit and intelligence but his ideas were strange and something had occurred and turned him into a monster-looking man. Indeed I can suggest that his insanity is even leading his whole body and brain. He epitomizes the deepest and darkest side of humankind and he embodies the precise image of the devil. Furthermore darkness is a major element present in the film, it represents the complexity to understand the characters which darkens our thoughts.
General Corman also lifts the fact of a confusing war, indeed there is a mix between rational and irrational but here the devil side triumphs over the good side.
Before I end this I can add that soldiers are depicted in this film as clumsy. I had the impression they were on holiday instead of being in a fight. Their goal isn't patriotic but oriented towards home.