Review of Apocalypse Now (1979) by Swati — 01 Dec 2013

The moment we are introduced to the main character, it's clear what the war has done to his mind. He is in a haze. Part of special operations, his tasks often involve assassinating people deemed hazardous to the war effort. He is not expected to think for himself. Actually the dossier he is given over his next target he only opens to read once he has set off for the mission, and it's instantly clear that even if he could find sympathy for his target, he must at all costs finish the mission.

The focus here is of course on the Vietnam War. A colonel has gone renegade and needs to be killed. A captain is sent to do the job. On his way he comes across various units, one of whom treats war as a picnic outing. Human nature, it would seem, would politicize almost anything. Video cameras roll as soldiers pretend to be caught in an ambush. Officers having their pictures taken for publicity stunts. This would have been disturbing in itself, this total disregard for human suffering, of the people of the land they have invaded and their own wounded and killed. But it is apparent that these men only do these things to feel normal, or whatever passes for normal during a bloody war.

As the captain travels up the river, the banks are littered with unattended dead. No one has the time and the interest to bury them. The whole pointlessness of war is shown with poignant imagery. One would think two wars that caused the deaths of tens of millions would have been enough to teach mankind the lesson of a lifetime. Still about one and a half million Vietnamese had to perish, not to count the dead of several other wars. And the lesson is still not learnt.

It becomes more disturbing as Captain Willard goes deeper and closer to the source of the conflict. Command structures have completely vanished. A mass hysteria seems to have gripped these men. They joke and laugh like maniacs and kill with complete apathy. This before Willard has even reached his destination. But nothing prepares you for what awaits him at the end of his journey. The colonel has gathered himself a cult following of native Cambodians and Vietnamese among some Americans too. That place gave me the creeps.

The film explored how the violence and cruelty of war alters the nature of men fighting it, especially wars of an imperial nature. How the soldiers become desensitized and dehumanize everyone, suspect everyone, kill with impunity. They may not be aware of this at the moment, but killing a human being, even one you will always consider somewhere between your pets and an insect, will have an effect on you. Coppola succeeds in showing this message loud and clear.

Martin Sheen tackles his character with a relaxed laid-back approach. He is in no rush to reach his destination. The journey is the real part of the story. But when he does reach the colonel, even after everything he has seen on the way, including his own slip of character, he still is surprised at the colonel's doings. Marlon Brando plays a lunatic with extreme precision.

This being a war movie, the scale of the human involvement and military machinery was captured effectively. The costumes and make up department did a wondrous job. The equatorial climate has everyone perspiring constantly. You know that they hate the weather, the country, the jungles, and most disturbingly of all, the people. Their dead count for nothing and they lie and rot.

I must admit that this movie made me very uncomfortable and unsettled at times. The way some of the characters seem to lose their minds is palpable and frightening, like losing it is itself chosen as a way to remain sane in the face of such devastation of human lives.