Apocalypse Now: Film Review
Vietnam Masterpiece Astounds and Disturbs
Martin Sheen is Willard, the soldier ordered to go after Marlon Brando’s Colonel Kurtz, another soldier who has turned away from his orders and gone insane – ordering tribes of Vietnamese people on a quest of murder and horror. Willard joins a troop of naval soldiers and travels up river to find Kurtz – towards, as Conrad's book was named, the very heart of darkness.
Sheen and Brando Dominate
Sheen is fantastic; his character is trapped in the world of the post-war veteran, and sent back to the front. His demeanor is suggestive of someone addicted; he didn’t want this, but he needs it, and there’s nothing else he can do. His narrative’s parallel with Brando’s Kurtz is masterfully played out, and their eventual meeting is impressive to behold.
Brando is not in the film that much – in fact, it is in hearing recordings of his voice and seeing pictures of him that build a mounting sense of mystery. When the viewer finally sees the man, the actor does not disappoint – conveying a sense of insanity with that of a man who has had enough with fighting for someone else, and has decided to take that power and use it for his own ends.
Duvall. Fishburne Provide Support
The male co-stars here are numerous and incredibly diverse; from the Harrison Ford cameo, to the gleeful madness of Robert Duvall’s madman officer Kilgore, the supporting cast has many small standouts. The boat captain, played by Albert Hall, is perfectly in sync with Laurence Fishburne’s young upstart – these are young guys, not ready for war, and not ready to face the hell that Willard commands them into.
The battle of the Vietcong village is a conquest of filmmaking; the sight of helicopters bombarding a real village with real fire-power, followed by a napalm bombing of the forest, is breathtaking to behold. It’s astounding - an unparalleled on-screen recreation of war.
Fantastic Odyssey of Film
It’s remarkable that this film was ever made, with the numerous problems it encountered . It remains a powerful journey into the heart of the human soul, and a voyage to the dark side of human nature, packaged in a visual feast amongst the hell of war.
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