Into the mind of madness.

Rating: 10/10 (21 October 2017)

"Weeks away and hundreds of miles up a river that snaked through the war like a main circuit cable plugged straight into Kurtz" that piece of dialogue from Captain Willard, played by Martin Sheen, sets the psychedelic tone for what is widely considered Francis Ford Coppola's most ambitious project. Based loosely on Joseph Conrad's novela Heart of Darkness, 'Apocalypse Now' tells the tale of decorated soldier Walter E Kurtz, played by Marlon Brando, and the frightening journey of his assassin Captain Willard. Kurtz, who has abandoned his military obligation, has recruited an army of tribal locals deep in the heart of a war ravaged Cambodian jungle. He has in every sense of the word, gone insane. Just like Willard, we know very little of his enemy Colonel Kurtz, and as he descends further towards the Colonels compound, the more he learns about him, and most importantly, himself. As the two men collide, Kurtz's rants and confessions portray a ghost of somebody lost in time and space, reeling with pain and profound hurt, as we hear tales of a renegades life that put Willard's assumed past into some sort of moral perspective. Does Willard have the guts and instinct to carry out the responsibility placed upon him? One of the reason's why 'Apocalypse now' has a lasting legacy over other Vietnam war films is not only due to its cast, but it's director Francis Ford Coppola and his desire and will to defy modern convention and deliver one of motion pictures most analyzed and lorded movies from a near flawless and revolutionary period of cinema. To say Coppola had reached the peak of his creative and artistic powers would be a mere under statement, and to acknowledge the depth and underlying detail he has outlined can not only illustrate the brilliance of his film making psyche, but position the audience in the same chaotic realm as its cast and crew. We see the fanatic struggle of Captain Willard and we see the madness of Colonel Kurtz. The other essential character is the jungle itself, just like an actor, it transforms and evolves many times through out the movie. We first see it as a harmless estuary slowly bend into a tunnel toward hell. We also see a far more primitive tug of war between Willard and the jungle, a war that can only be won and lost in his own mind. 'Apocalypse now' is not a horror movie, but it is so much more frightening. The mark of a great film is it's power to defy categorization, and Coppola's 1979 masterpiece does just that.