Apocalypse Now (1979)

Apocalypse Now is probably the best war (or shall we say anti-war) movie ever to be made. It is one of my favourite movies if not the favourite (it’s difficult to decide with Shawshank and a few others coming close).

If I were to be very honest, I didn’t like the movie when I saw it for the first time. The reason being I was thinking it to be a war movie which would have grueling war scenes with gruesome battles ala Saving Private Ryan. Alas that was not to be! All it showed was a journey of a young captain through the jungles of Vietnam and Cambodia. I had failed to understand that the movie was beyond the usual war movies. It was much more than that!

Though I had not liked the movie I kept on thinking about it, such was the impact of the movie. I decided to watch it once again and there was no looking back after that!! The movie is set during the Vietnam War. A young captain Willard (Martin Sheen) is sent on a mission which officially 'does not exist - nor will it ever exist'. The mission is to ‘terminate with extreme prejudice’ a renegade Colonel Walter Kurtz (Marlon Brando). This colonel had set himself up as a local God in Cambodia and was waging his own war. The movie shows the journey of Captain Willard where he experiences different adventures ranging from a surfing crazy Lieutenant Colonel (Robert Duvall was simply amazing) to Playboy bunnies. Most of Captain Willard’s thoughts are communicated to us through his voice-over which provides for a really gripping atmosphere throughout the movie. As the journey progresses, sanity evaporates his and his fellow travelers’ minds. The dossier on the Colonel makes him wonder why it is that the powers that be want to kill the Colonel. The closer he gets to his destination the more confused he becomes about what he is going to do when he comes face to face with the Colonel.

The movie shows the insanity that prevailed during the Vietnam War and the way the war affected the minds of the people involved in it. It shows the inner battles which take place within all the participants in a war. It shows the horrors of the war without becoming a gore fest!

Francis Ford Coppola has made a masterpiece and proved once again that he is a genius. The acting was superb with Martin Sheen giving a very convincing performance as the young Colonel. Excellent performances by his boat crew as well especially by Sam Bottoms as Lance B. Johnson. A special mention needs to be made regarding the cinematography and sound effects for which the movie received Oscars. Some of the scenes are simply breath-taking while the music is amazing, haunting at times. The opening sequence is probably one of the best with the bombing of the jungle with ‘The End’ by ‘The Doors’ in the background.

The movie was released in 1979 but a new ‘Redux’ version was released in 2001 with an added footage of about 45 minutes. There have been a lot of debates as to which is better – the original or the redux version. I have never seen the original (though I have read about the differences between the two versions) but I agree with some of the critics that some of the scenes in the redux version could have been done away with. However that does not, in any way, reduce the greatness of the movie.

I have seen a lot of discussion regarding the ending of the movie and how disconcerting it is for some of the viewers. All I can say is that the ending only adds to the eerie atmosphere of the movie and it results in the culmination of the madness that this entire movie is all about. To sum it all up, I will use the words of the director, 'This film isn't about Vietnam. This film IS Vietnam'.