Apocalypse Now
Overview
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 epic war film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1899 novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. The film is set during the Vietnam War, and it follows Captain Benjamin L. Willard (Martin Sheen), a U.S. Army special operations officer who is sent on a mission to assassinate Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a renegade Green Beret who has gone insane and is leading a group of Montagnard tribesmen in a brutal, independent campaign. The film is a journey into the heart of darkness, both literally and metaphorically. Willard travels up the Nung River in a Navy patrol boat, accompanied by a crew of four: Chief Phillips (Albert Hall), the boat's commander; Lance (Sam Bottoms), a surfer; Chef (Frederic Forrest), a chef from New Orleans; and Clean (Laurence Fishburne), a young soldier. The film is famous for its surreal, hallucinatory sequences, its use of The Doors' "The End," and its depiction of the madness of war. The film was plagued by production problems: a typhoon destroyed the sets, Martin Sheen had a heart attack, and Marlon Brando arrived on set overweight and unprepared. The film ends with Willard finding Kurtz, who is living in a temple, surrounded by decapitated heads. Kurtz recites T.S. Eliot's poem "The Hollow Men," and he tells Willard to kill him. Willard kills Kurtz with a machete, and he walks away. Apocalypse Now won two Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Sound. It was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director. The film is a masterpiece of war cinema, a dark, powerful, and unforgettable exploration of the human capacity for evil.
