Apocalypse Now: Redux

Alright, there have been a good handful of reviews so far in this grandiose lineup of films, just waiting for a B movie to mess everything up. But now, my friends, we have hit the next goldmine. A goldmine so vast, so huge, so incredibly and impossibly beautiful and terrifying that just thinking about writing about it makes one think that so many things can go so very wrong.

As you know, Apocalypse Now is a film directed by the great Francis For Coppola, starring Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Laurence Fishburne and quite a few cameos here and there. It shouldn't be a surprise to you that this film is set during the Vietnam War/Conflict, but it may be a surprise to find out that the film isn't at all about its surroundings. It's more about the people in the film, how they act, how they reason, how they conflict and resolve.

Now I should mention here that this film is not an original concept. It is in fact based on a short work of fiction by author Joseph Conrad entitled Heart of Darkness, published in 1902. The original story followed a Charles Marlow, on a steamboat with his crew, employed to transport ivory downriver in the Congo, but was given an assignment to return Kurtz, another trader, back to 'civilisation' in a cover-up.

When you think of the film as a journey to the heart of darkness, more and more of the movie starts to make sense.

Captain Willard is definitely established as the main character (I wouldn't say protagonist), and unmistakably so, since he is the prime focus of the film. Every single character in this movie, in one way or another, interacts with Captain Willard. There are a few highlights of characters that converse, argue and fight with Willard, most notably General Corman near the beginning of the film as Willard receives his assignment, his boat crew, Lt. Kilgore, the photojournalist, and of course Col. Kurtz in the final act of the film. 

Cpt. Willard sits on the boat, enveloped in fog.

One can argue that as Willard meets more and more people throughout the film, they get more and more insane. Most people would probably disagree with this idea, I think mainly because Lt. Kilgore can be argued as the craziest character in the entire film. However, I believe insanity goes further than that. Much, much further (ever read a Batman graphic novel?). Especially since the entire point of Willard's mission is to find Kurtz and take him out, he would need to be the most insane character in the entire film. Well, when Willard finally meets Kurtz face to face, he seems to be 'all there,' but something just seems...off. Which is what I meant about insanity reaching depths further than the obvious. In his conversations with Willard, he tells him about a mission he once had when he was still working for the military:

Kurtz: You have to have men who are moral... and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling... without passion... without judgment... without judgment! Because it's judgment that defeats us. 

This is the point of the film that is best left to personal interpretation. It is my interpretation that Kurtz's insanity is so deep that it can be argued that he is not insane at all. However, the fact that it can be argued that he is not insane at all raises the possibility that Willard is just as insane as Kurtz is, only more hesitant. In a way, Willard has undergone the same transformation as Kurtz. It is at the end of the film that Willard realises that whatever he does next, if he kills Kurtz or leaves him in peace, he will just take Kurtz's place.

If you care about numerical rating systems:

 10 napalm bombs out of 10.

As a side note, if you have never seen this film before, I suggest watching the original theatrical release first, then the redux, as it makes more sense the second time around, plus there's more scenes to supplement the story.