The Insanity of the Vietnam War

Rating: 7/10 (11 January 2008)

Francis Ford Coppola presented the world in 1979 a war epic about the insanity of Vietnam by telling us the story of much decorated Colonel Kurtz who, having lost his mind, had taken command of a motley crew of soldiers and natives and lead them across the border into Cambodia, leaving a trail of death and destruction behind him. Lieutenant Willard is assigned the unenviable mission of sailing up river through treacherous "Charlie" territory in order to locate Kurtz and terminate him.
Willard (Martin Sheen) takes us on a powerful tour of what was a crazy war, as he comes across more and more frightening people and situations the further he journeys, until finally confronting the ultimate madman.
Coppola's film, the first of it's kind to deal with Vietnam, is forceful and unrelenting in the extreme, and very much not for the faint hearted. Martin Sheen gives a very strong performance as the lieutenant whose own sanity is on a knife edge and whose heart may have already turned to darkness, while Marlon Brando delivers a typically memorable turn of commendable weight as the twisted Colonel. All other support players are impressive too, with Dennis Hopper, Robert Duvall, Sam Bottoms, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall and Larry Fishburne all striking in the memory. The technical crew weren't ignored at the Oscars, with cinematography and sound taking out that year's awards, along with a best supporting actor Oscar for Duvall.
Certainly "Apocalypse Now" achieves its objective, that is to show the true heart of an insane war and to disturb its audience in the process, though it probably never went a long way toward an in-depth and understanding overview. Rest assured however that Francis Coppola will never be forgotten for what is an astounding and shocking movie. I shouldn't neglect to mention that some of the cinematography is truly awesome, and is best appreciated at the movies.
Sunday, July 10, 1994 - Video