Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola

Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now is a movie realized by Francis Ford Coppola and inspired by Joseph Conrad's novel entitled Heart of the darkness. The intrigue takes place during the war of Vietnam. Captain Willard receives for mission to find colonel Kurtz who built an empire in the jungle over which it reigns by terror. He attends during his journey a massacre. Having crossed the last American bridge, he finds Kurtz and kills him. There were many critics on the movie Apocalypse Now. Indeed the cinema had always supported the military commitment of the country, not hesitating to produce propaganda films to support the policy of the government. This movie contrasts strongly with the others and surprises the audience. We will ask us, which are the ways used to denounce the nonsense of the war and its violence. For it we will see first all the use of the music before interesting us of the madness to finish with the horror of scenes.

What knocks from the opening of Apocalypse Now, it is the work on soundtracks and musics. We quickly notice that nothing was chosen at random to show the physical and moral violence. Indeed the music of the film is quite special, sometimes totally scary and even stressful. The movie opens on the jungle of Vietnam: we can hear noises of helicopters announcing the American invasion and can signify that the death came from the sky. Moreover, the jungle burnt while at the same moment we can hear the first words of the song The End from the group called The doors. These first words are “This Is the end”. The apocalyptic backgrounds show it very well. In fact “This is the end” announces the end of the humanity as well as the suffering and violence. Later in the famous helicopter scene the music The Ride of Valkyries composed by Wagner is integrated in the Vietnam War. Helicopters are seen attacking Viet Cong. It's as if the symphony scares the Vietnamese. This music reflects the power but also the violence of the Americans. Their attack causes a tragic massacre but we are tempted to be impressed thanks to the music. The combination of triumphant music and deadly combat creates a sense of madness.

Throughout the shooting, the madness was present: the director considered suicide, the actors had collapses, all the production sometimes seemed to be in depression. This seems consistent since the film explores madness and raises an important question about the mentality of war in general. At the beginning of the movie, there is a contradiction in the captain's thoughts: "I am still in Saigon ... Only in Saigon." All the young Americans want to return to the United States but Willard wants to return to the Vietnamese jungle. We could wonder if he is crazy. Always in the same scene he violently breaks his mirror in a moment of madness. This mirror represents his image; he breaks it because he does not recognize himself anymore: he is therefore no longer aware of him. Later in the movie there is a discussion between Willard and a journalist. He declares: “Why would a nice guy like you want to kill a genius? Why? Because they told you he was crazy? The Colonel is not crazy. The man is clear in his mind, but his soul is mad”. The journalist says to Willard that the Colonel is clear in his mind because he really does think extreme brutality is necessary to win the war. But his soul is mad, because at some level Kurtz is horrified by what he's doing. This madness is later manifested by violence in the Vietnam War.