Movie #26: Apocalypse Now Redux

Her Take: Perhaps it is because I am not a dude, but I have to admit I wasn’t really taken with this movie. Apocalypse Now is Francis Ford Coppola’s re-imagination of Joseph Conrad’s book Heart of Darkness in the context of the Vietnam War. We watched the Redux version, which adds 49 minutes of movie that was cut out of the theatrical release. As a result, this film felt incredibly long. We watched the two halves on separate nights. The basic plot is that Martin Sheen is sent into “the shit” to assassinate a rogue colonel, played by Marlon Brando. Lots of things occur along the way. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great scenes in this movie. The scene where Laurence Fishburne is shot and killed while listening to an audiocassette from home, his mother’s voice telling him to come home in one piece. The scene where Martin Sheen meets Col. Kurtz for the first time. Still, the movie altogether did not really grab me. It felt too long, too stylized, too something. Still, I think I can muster 3 out of 5 stars.

His Take: Where to begin? (I originally typed “Where to being?” and found it oddly appropriate a typo.) Autobiographical? OK. The first time I saw this was with my best buddy, and it would have been circa the 7th or 8th grade; which, by itself is plenty without this huge beast influencing one’s mental attitude. His dad had actually done tours in Vietnam, and things didn’t go so well for him resulting in his eventual suicide a while after being back in the States. To have seen this right around the time that we were beginning to formulate our identities as men is a pretty daunting exercise. To be able to say I feel we both made it out of our teenage years well adjusted is most likely even more daunting. But in general the whole scene, phrase, and philosophy of “absolutely never get off the boat, goddam right, never get off the boat” has stuck with me all this time. It was years later, when I read Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, I began to understand how Vietnam reflected the darkest parts of our nature, especially as Americans, that we sometimes find ourselves susceptible. There are numerous reasons to count this classic among best of the best, but the most important to me is a reminder to always be aware and wary of our dark depths. That there is a battle that wages within each of us, and that battle is between good and evil.
Also of note is Laurence Fishburne’s screen debut, Robert Duvall with his famous, “Charlie don’t surf!” and the morose death party that gives Captain Willard his grim assignment that includes a youthful Harrison Ford, and every second Marlon Brando is on screen. Brando shines even more once you realize the history behind his performance. This movie has a weight to it that few others do. It is elegant in its implementation right down to the choice of music. The fucking thing begins with The Doors’ “This is the End.” I think the actors in this movie may be too young to understand exactly how powerful their performances are, or maybe it is Coppola’s deft handling of their talents, or maybe they were and will always be just that gifted. I love the scene with the French family as it is stubborn stagnation sticking to its guns dichotomized with acceptance of the carnal pleasures of sex and violence. I don’t see how any Westerner could get away without experiencing this. Perfectly shows the Western dilemma without being encumbered by Western guilt so typical of modern movies. Still as beautiful now as then. 5 out of 5.