Apocalypse Now is a film that was made in 1979 and focuses on the events that follow Captain Willard as he works toward assassinating an American general who has supposedly gone insane during the Vietnam war. Willard is a very distraught character who from the very start suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and has difficulty adjusting to the quiet of everyday life compared to the war. Then when he is asked to assassinate Kurtz, an American general who has quit the army and has gone “insane”, Willard must go back into the battle with a group of men escorting him on his mission. Throughout Vietnam, the men show little regard to the Vietnamese as actual people and perform atrocious acts that depict fictional representations of documented acts of war, such as the killing of innocent civilians. As the time goes by Willard learns more and more about Kurtz from intel, and as the journey goes on, he starts to become just as Kurtz was and doing some of the same things that got Kurtz on a hit list with the US. In the end, Willard sees what Kurtz is like and must decide to either kill him and become the new Kurtz or leave him to live, but Willard chooses to kill the man in order to complete his mission.
Willard’s transformation into the beast that he was hunting was a very interesting idea and I believe the director was able to realize this very well in this film where man must become what he is looking for in order to succeed in their journey. This is true as Willard becomes exactly what Kurtz was and I think this was incredibly realized by the acting, as Martin Sheen was incredible as Willard as he was able to show such striking and disembodied emotions. AS well Martin Brandlo did a great job as Kurtz as even though we only see him for a bit, his role is none less important as he comes to be the great evil of the story, but when you meet him he is just a normal man who has chosen his own fate.
Apocalypse Now was also a very different look at a Vietnam movie as it had a more artistic feel to it with all the dramatic lighting and psychological colours. This is true for when you see Kurtz, he is not fully shown and has a sepia tone to him to make him look otherworldly. Also the use of movement was very important as a lot of time the characters were moving, the camera was able to create a sense of speed or danger as when they are flying in helicopters and running away from the tiger.
The use of the Philippines as Vietnam also worked very well as it really seemed like a lush tropical paradise riddled with war . The ending where Willard was going to kill Kurtz was also very well done, as it was dark outside to symbolize the immoral and unjust act Willard is about to commit. Also the use of the boar as a prop was very symbolic as the Vietnamese killing of the boar as a way of foreshadowing what Willard is about to do. Costume and makeup was also effective in this film as many of the characters looked really rough and dirty because they have been in duty for the past while and many have tattered clothing, making it convincing that they are in a war.
In conclusion, I think this is a great film as it is neither a pro war film or anti war film, and it is for the viewer to decide as it is very ambiguous like that. This was a very interesting and well made look at the Vietnam war. I am giving this film a 9/10 and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about the war as well as who want to see a good movie.
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