Garden
The film "Apocalypse Now" was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and stars Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, and Robert Duvall. It was released in 1979 after an incredibly trying and arduous production and post-production which drove Coppola and his crew to the brink of insanity. Brutal hours, typhoons, and heart attacks set production back months. And even in the editing room Coppola resorted to digging through the insane amount of footage he had shot frantically searching for a way to end his film. The film screened at Cannes in 1979 to high praise and even snagged the Palm d'Or despite being screened as a work in progress.
Some academic analysis of the incident shows that the film may have played a part in the ending of the New Hollywood era, a time of revival and auteurship in the film industry. Coppola himself is a key figure in this time with his hits of that decade: The Godfather, the Godfather Part II, The Conversation, and Apocalypse Now. Hollywood trusted its directors during this time. However, news of Apocalypse Now's infamous shoot put everyone on edge. The final nail in the coffin of the era came in the form of Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate. Production fell far behind schedule and far over-budget due to Cimino's obessive attention to every single detail. He changed the locks to the editing room during post-production and showed executives a first cut that had an astonishing runtime of five hours, which they refused to release. The film was a colossal failure, bankrupting the once highly-important United Artists. After this, studios demanded more control and the golden age of Hollywood autuership came to an end.
On the bright side, Apocalypse Now is on my list of "Top 10 Movies of All Time" which as of now only has seven titles, I haven't figured out the other three.
It's been said by many people that Apocalypse Now is the only truly successful film adaptation of Heart of Darkness. They're probably right, since no one ever talks about the other two (did you know that John Malkovich once played Kurtz?). I've never read the original novella but looking at Darkness evokes similar images, tones, and feelings that Apocalypse Now does. It's interesting to see a work reduced to its most basic, visceral elements in a way that is so literal and so simple it feels like a slap to the face. The film preserved this feeling and the basics of the plot and delivered a story that clearly drew on the literary tradition and yet was so well-suited to the medium. Darkness demystifies this process as it shows that, somehow, and maybe only sometimes, works can be distilled to their essential parts, and no matter how the setting and time period of the story shifts, these parts remain.
The first time I saw the film was in between my sohpomore and junior year of high school. I watched it with my classmates as an assignment. As I sat in my classmate's nice Walnut Creek house surrounded by people who up until that day I had never engaged with outside of our academic setting, I was impressed by how atmospheric, gritty, and dreamlike the film was. I also felt smug for getting away with watching an R-rated movie, which I technically wasn't allowed to watch then.
The second time I watched the film (or maybe the third) I was home recovering from wisdoom-teeth removal. I had been given hydrocodone with acetaminophen for the pain. I watched the screen and began to feel myself get really fuzzy. It was a pleasant sensation. I closed my eyes and to my delight was treated to my own personal light show.
The third time I became convinced that the opening sequence was one of the best in cinematic history.
The fifth (or maybe sixth) time I saw it was earlier this year in class, in a real theater! I was absolutely floored (again). Even though I usually used screenings to catch up on lost sleep, I was in awe the entire way through. At one point I looked excitedly to my friend only to find her fast asleep. Oh well.
Experience it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntPHFVWDIqM
