Apocalypse Now (1979)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Stars: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall
Runtime: 196 minutes (Redux Edition)

Synopsis: A U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.

Performances: 10/10
Screenplay: 10/10
Editing: 8/10
Cinematography: 10/10
Score/Soundtrack: 10/10

Verdict: The horror of war is a haunting thing to reflect on, and I can't think of a better movie to illustrate why than Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now".

Set in the jungles of Vietnam, the movie is at its core about a Captain's mission to find a decorated Colonel gone rogue and terminate him. A fairly simple premise that has since been replicated in films such as Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan". Despite a hellish production process that almost cost him his sanity, Coppola still managed to submit one of the better-crafted war movies of all time. Gorgeous cinematography, impressive practical effects, and inspired song choices are all at the center of a terrifyingly immersive experience that has a lot to say about the absurdity of the atrocities committed in times of conflict. We are obliged to witness innocent civilians get ruthlessly murdered by people who never asked to be there. People whose sole purpose in life is to follow orders without questioning them.

That is what war is in a nutshell, and what pretty much every film that falls in that genre tries to convey in one way or another. "Apocalypse Now" achieved it in an overall technically superior manner, but that's not really why the film is regarded by many as being a masterpiece. Coppola was also interested in exploring our protagonist's psyche during that voyage, and that, for me, was the aspect I found most fascinating to analyze.

The movie opens with Captain Willard, brilliantly portrayed by Martin Sheen, alone in a hotel room as he suffers a breakdown caused by PTSD. Vietnam is now his home as he lets the audience know through voice-over that he felt like a stranger on his short leave. The war has consumed his very being and his sanity paid the price for it. The mission he's assigned becomes essentially a journey into his own, chaotic mind. The closer he got to his goal, the less stable he appears, and the more his fascination with the mysterious Colonel Kurtz grows. In more than one way, he sees in him everything he's becoming and everything he wishes to become. Kurtz can be seen as a ruthless tyrant whose insanity is a direct result of his involvement in the war. But he also represents freedom from an oppressive system, a system whose objectives and intentions Willard himself is starting to question. To me, and without spoiling anything, this makes the final act an extremely powerful one if looked at from that particular perspective.

"Apocalypse Now" is an iconic anti-war movie because of its simultaneous small and large scales. I had seen it once before, about a decade ago, but was then more interested in watching Marlon Brando's acclaimed performance as the target of the operation. I was young and, if you've seen the film, understand why I was a bit disappointed as he's not in it as much as I thought he was. Watching it today was an entirely new experience that I'm sure will stay with me for a while. I chose to watch the Redux Edition which includes about 50 minutes of additional footage and honestly would recommend just checking out the theatrical cut as this one did suffer just a bit in terms of pacing towards the end of the second act and includes a sequence on a French plantation that I thought was too on the nose and unnecessary. For now, I'm giving it a slightly less than perfect rating, but I'm pretty sure that'll change whenever I rewatch the original cut.

FINAL GRADE: 9/10