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1979
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APOCALYPSE
NOW
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STARRING:MARTIN
SHEEN,MARLON BRANDO,ROBERT DUVALL,FREDERIC FORREST,SAM BOTTOMS,LAURENCE
FISHBURNE,ALBERT HALL,DENNIS HOPPER
BASED
ON THE NOVEL "HEART OF DARKNESS" BY JOSEPH CONRAD
SCREENPLAY
BY JOHN MILIUS & FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA
NARRATION
WRITTEN BY MICHAEL HERR
PRODUCED
BY FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA
DIRECTED
BY FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA
GENRE:DRAMA/WAR
RATED:AUSTRALIA:R/UK:18/USA:R
RUNNING
TIME:153 MIN
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When
the renegade Colonel Kurtz (Brando) goes nuts in a remote jungle compound
in Cambodia, the U.S. Army sends Captain Willard (Sheen) on a mission
up river during the Vietnam War to terminate the Colonel with "extreme
prejudice".
Perhaps Francis Ford Coppola's greatest directorial achievement, Apocalypse
Now is a visually stunning war film that has no equal, cinematographer
Vittorio Storaro capturing the Philippine location to great effect.
Unlike other films on the Vietnam War, Apocalypse Now does
not contain any social or political agenda, but is a story about the
descent into madness with the war the perfect backdrop. Platoon
had its semi-autobiographical take; The
Deer Hunter shows what happens when you go home;
Apocalypse Now is a journey into darkness.
Martin Sheen gives a great performance, his distinctive voice brining
Michael Herr's great narration to life (which was wonderfully lampooned
in Hot Shots Part 2). The fifth in line to play Captain
Willard (Steve McQueen, Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson turned down the
role, Harvey Keitel was fired after two weeks of filming), Sheen bares
all on screen as the Secret Service assassin who craves action, domestic
life back in the states driving him mad. Watching him loose it in
a drunken stupor (with Sheen actually being drunk in the process)
is confronting viewing. Sheen's destructive behavior finally caught
up to him on set suffering a heart attack mid-shoot, one of many problems
to face Coppola.
The casting of Marlon Brando as Col. Kutrz is perfect. Playing a character
who has "gone totally insane", and whose "methods are
un-sound" is not far off from the man himself, whose oddball
behavior and monstrous weight gain only added to Coppola's suffering.
It isn't Brando's best performance, but it's definitely one of his
most memorable. However Robert Duvall does deliver his best performance
in the form of the sadistic Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore, whose eccentric
behavior and enthusiastic approach to war leads to a breath taking
scene where Kilgore orders his men to destroy a village, blasting
Wagner through the speakers as they drop bombs from up high as Duvall
delivers the infamous "I love the smell of napalm in the morning"
monologue after a napalm strike ends the battle in dramatic affect.
Dennis Hopper has a uniquely bizarre minor role as a photographic
journalist who is apart of Kurtz' compound, spewing out rambling,
incoherent philosophy mixed with hipster jive, Hopper's behavior just
as bizarre off set.
Francis Ford Coppola has gone to hell and back making this film. Beside
the behavior of his stars (especially that of Brando who angered Coppola
so much it is rumoured that he refused to shoot any of his scenes
turning over directing duties to his assistant director), Coppola
also had to battle against mother nature when a typhoon nearly destroyed
all of his sets, was facing financial ruin due to the films long shoot
(16 months to be precise with 3 years spent editing the film) and
his marriage was falling apart.
Yet by overcoming those obstacles Coppola has created a masterpiece,
perhaps the greatest war film ever made, a perfect example of how
an artist's vision cannot be compromised no matter the consequences.
This is Coppola at breaking point, his decent into madness, going
beyond the limits to make his vision come to life. |
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