Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is Francis Ford Coppola's (of Godfather's fame) epic movie set during Vietnam War. Its not a war movie though. It is a movie between good and evil but unlike most American war movies based during Vietnam war, the good is not always American and evil is not the Vietnamese. In the movie, good and evil both are humans who happen to be Americans. Infact, the movie is more of a metaphor, good and evil exists within all of us and it is our choice, which one we eventually choose. There have been cases where people have been wronged, while some try to right the wrong by taking revenge the others believe in forgiveness. Why we choose what we eventually choose is something that we haven't been able to figure it out, despite the advances in human psychology.
The cinematography of the movie is one of the best. Even though the movie was released in 1979, it doesn't look old. The war scenes along with the shots of rural Vietnam are shot beautifully (ironic, isn't it?...ah the magic of cinema where war seems beautiful too). This was an ugly war though, which showed the ugly side of Americans but the people fighting the war on both sides were humans. The eventual losers were not Americans but humanity itself. We see the loss of humanity throughout the movie, whether it is the scene where the Commanding Officer plays an exhilarating song before assaulting a Vietnamese village almost as an ugly fetish or the boat crew killing a Vietnamese boat crew because of the fear of the unknown (in this case a small puppy).
Martin Sheen is excellent as the Captain on the mission but it is his voice and the life story of Marlon Brando's character that takes the movie to the whole new level. Brando hardly has 10 minutes of screen time but it is his story and fear that drives the movie and Sheen's boat towards the eventual end, which never arrives. The movie was criticized when it was first released because it didn't had any ending but there was an ending for me. Good had once again defeated the evil.
Warning: The movie is not for the faint-hearted.
The cinematography of the movie is one of the best. Even though the movie was released in 1979, it doesn't look old. The war scenes along with the shots of rural Vietnam are shot beautifully (ironic, isn't it?...ah the magic of cinema where war seems beautiful too). This was an ugly war though, which showed the ugly side of Americans but the people fighting the war on both sides were humans. The eventual losers were not Americans but humanity itself. We see the loss of humanity throughout the movie, whether it is the scene where the Commanding Officer plays an exhilarating song before assaulting a Vietnamese village almost as an ugly fetish or the boat crew killing a Vietnamese boat crew because of the fear of the unknown (in this case a small puppy).
Martin Sheen is excellent as the Captain on the mission but it is his voice and the life story of Marlon Brando's character that takes the movie to the whole new level. Brando hardly has 10 minutes of screen time but it is his story and fear that drives the movie and Sheen's boat towards the eventual end, which never arrives. The movie was criticized when it was first released because it didn't had any ending but there was an ending for me. Good had once again defeated the evil.
Warning: The movie is not for the faint-hearted.
posted by fursat at 5:31 PM
6 Comments:
"The movie is not for the faint-hearted."
ab main kya karun? :P
you know even though i love books and movies, stories set during war time are just not for me... i feel way too depressed and carry the feeling with me for a long time...
I love watching classics, but war movies are just not my cup of tea :)
Many Many Happy Returns of the Day....
rain girl - Don't watch it :P
anks - I can understand but me on the other hand find war stories fascinating (not in a sick way) maybe because I lived majority of my early life in an Army environment.
colors - Maybe its your cup of coffee, sorry bad joke :P
juneli - Thanks Juneli :)
didn't know about this one.. shud add to MUST WATCH..
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