Where did the craziness begin?

Apocalypse Now Redux

After feeling so sad for not having been able to see the longer version of “Scenes from a Marriage”, I was pretty sure that I would be preferring the longer version of “Apocalypse Now”. So it was. Coppola (or, like I prefer to say, FFC) is absolutely brilliant when it comes to directing a 3+ hour long epos. I don’t know why some people felt this longer version was dragged out, because I certainly didn’t. Except for the part about the French, the film is so well contained that I would definitely say that every scene had its purpose in the overall plot. Even the political discussions with the French were very interesting to listen to, at least for me.

If anything, it was the lack of passion of the French lady that seemed strange to me; why would she practically turn herself into a comfort woman is completely beyond me. Nobody in the film ever seems to have any genuine feeling; it seems that everybody has gotten crazy to the point that they spend their entire energy on being alive. Survival is all this film is about, and it is mostly about survival of the mind.

Because we are in a completely different time, struggling with different problems and are, ultimately, completely detached from the craziness of war, it is hard to emphasize with anybody in the film. At least for me, the film was not particularly powerful on an emotional level. It is not about the gory horrors of war, but about psychology which is so much harder to relate to. Without a doubt, the film was immensely suspenseful, but I have a hard time to say anything noteworthy about it. The film goes into the darkness of the soul which I am trying to understand with my eyes and hopelessly failing.

“Apocalypse Now” is probably the most thoughtful and cerebral (oh God this word) war movie I have ever seen in my life. It is then no big surprise that it made such an impact on filmmaking and society as a whole. In comparison to what else FFC has done, I would say it’s better than Godfather II, although it does not reach the fascination I have had with Godfather I. But oh wow, this is definitely a must-see. It makes me wonder why our history teacher in high school wanted us to watch “Platoon” and “Good Morning Vietnam” but not this film. I also think that, instead of reading stupid books about Americans dealing with their losses from from Vietnam War, they should show more movies in English class. “Apocalypse Now” would be the perfect film for that; analysis-wise it’s also almost as hard to deal with as “Hedda Gabler”. Haha.