Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now has to be the darkest and most darkly comic film of all time. I had seen it before but never in the cinema and the sound did make a huge difference. The surround sound was a necessity to try and replicate how the sounds of war are all around you, mostly in the sound of helicopters circling overhead or constant chirping of the jungle.

The film’s opening has to be one of the greatest ever. The “Apocalypse” in the title is symbolized by The Doors’ “This is the End” with a beautiful jungle being napalmed to death, like the death of paradise. In this area, the Apocalypse Now is very similar to Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line. The film takes place in World War II but both films share the industrial war destruction of nature theme. Thin Red Line shows a pristine south Pacific island with sandy beaches and lush jungle being invaded by a country hundreds of miles away as the local villagers just watch, oblivious to the struggles of the outside world and therefore symbols of nature and a kind of loss of innocence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W82YyP9nleQ

My favorite scene was the night bridge scene where Lance drops acid with a puppy in his vest. The whole scene feel like a nightmare The Jimi Hendrix tape playing and the weird organ music along with the strings of lights overhead makes It’s an allegory for the entire war, an unorganized chaotic mess. A bad acid trip while trying to protect a little puppy, man… I mean how much darker could the comedy be?