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A Movie I'm Still Trying to Wrap My Head Around
2 years ago
General
In eternity, where there is no time, nothing can grow. Nothing can become. Nothing changes. So death created time to grow the things that it would kill and you are reborn but into the same life that you've always been born into.
Apocalypse Now
I decided to throw this one up because there are some movie buffs who follow me and it's fun to discuss this stuff!
That's not to say that I don't like the movie (I love it!), or that I don't understand the themes and subjects discussed in the movie (well, some of them, there are arguably a lot of themes), but there is a lot to unpack in that one, especially regarding a period as traumatic and divisive as the Vietnam War, especially with the discussions and portrayal of War Crimes. However, I think the movie has a lot to do with madness in a very old-timey sense. It's occurred to me a few times that this movie, and the novella it was based on, Heart of Darkness, could be adapted to fit into a Lovecraftian/Cosmic Horror story pretty well. A lot of the visuals in the movie stick with my mind as well, like when Capt. Willard makes it to the outpost that's under constant fire and the men stationed there are so numb that some of them are just listening to music, until the screaming and cursing VC/NV soldier gets too noisy for them. Then a single soldier turns down their stereo, listens, and is able to take him out with a 40mm grenade just by sound. The other scene that really sticks out in my mind is the famous scene showing Capt. Willard rising up out of the water silently to complete his mission.
I also frequently ponder Willard's curiosity, admiration, and later disillusionment with Col. Kurtz. As the movie starts, Willard is given a dossier on Kurtz and is perplexed as to why the brass (and likely the CIA) want Kurtz removed from command (i.e. killed), as the crimes he's been charged with are something that has been accepted throughout the war (executing VC spies). As he reads on, also reading mail sent from Kurtz to his family that has been intercepted, he comes to admire Kurtz which also makes him wonder more just why is this guy such a problem? As Willard goes deeper into enemy territory, he becomes more and more obsessed with Kurtz, the central mystery starting to drive Willard mad an separate him from his own humanity. Finally, he comes face to face with Kurtz and has found someone who has completely given in to madness, and so he has no misgivings about carrying out his orders barring a couple of hitches.
Another idea that has occurred to me is the infamous difficulties faced by the cast and crew while making the movie, but especially the issue of casting Marlon Brando and the amount of difficulty people had working with him. By that time, Brando had gained a lot of weight, often refused to memorize lines, read source material, and many other things actors are often time contracted to do when they receive a role. I've often wondered if that played into Martin Sheen's performance as well, since Brando isn't too dissimilar from Kurtz in some ways. An actor who's constantly hyped up, despite the issues that come with casting him. Other actors have sworn by him and said he was great to work with, while directors usually say he's only worth casting if you know exactly what you're getting into. While filming his scenes, Brando would sometimes stop midsentence and announce that he was finished filming for the day. I could see Martin Sheen filming a scene with Brando (actually I'm not sure that they had very many scene together because of the stated issues), and getting into things with Brando suddenly stopping everything. Much like his character's reaction to seeing Kurtz in the flesh, I can imagine both the actor and the character thinking "This is him? This is the man who has been built up so much through this entire ordeal?"
Regarding Brando's weight gain, I've actually made that a headcanon for the movie as well, which also explains why Willard is so quickly dismayed by this man who endured and conquered Special Forces training as a high-ranking officer in his older age. This is a man who should have been build like a tank. While Francis Ford Coppola attempted to keep Brando's body obscured by filming him in the shadows, you could still tell he was a chunky boy. My headcanon is that, on being accepted and even praised by the natives in the place he established in Cambodia, Kurtz gave in to excesses, perhaps as a coping mechanism for his PTSD. The part that he relates to Willard after capturing him, telling him about his team's attempt to establish rapport with the natives and vaccinating them against local diseases only to later find the people they had contacted were killed by the enemy, with every inoculated arm having been amputated, was a very short, direct, and simple way to establish what broke this man, as well as making a commentary on the Vietnam War itself. A war meant to be won in ways that made it unwinnable. So, now Kurtz has completely abandoned everything that made him a compelling leader.
Lastly, if you enjoy this movie and like to play video games, I absolutely have to recommend you play Spec Ops: The Line. It's a great game with good mechanics (same engine and gameplay style as Gears of War), that doesn't reinvent the wheel of gameplay in favor of story and character development. The less said beyond that, however, the better!
I decided to throw this one up because there are some movie buffs who follow me and it's fun to discuss this stuff!
That's not to say that I don't like the movie (I love it!), or that I don't understand the themes and subjects discussed in the movie (well, some of them, there are arguably a lot of themes), but there is a lot to unpack in that one, especially regarding a period as traumatic and divisive as the Vietnam War, especially with the discussions and portrayal of War Crimes. However, I think the movie has a lot to do with madness in a very old-timey sense. It's occurred to me a few times that this movie, and the novella it was based on, Heart of Darkness, could be adapted to fit into a Lovecraftian/Cosmic Horror story pretty well. A lot of the visuals in the movie stick with my mind as well, like when Capt. Willard makes it to the outpost that's under constant fire and the men stationed there are so numb that some of them are just listening to music, until the screaming and cursing VC/NV soldier gets too noisy for them. Then a single soldier turns down their stereo, listens, and is able to take him out with a 40mm grenade just by sound. The other scene that really sticks out in my mind is the famous scene showing Capt. Willard rising up out of the water silently to complete his mission.
I also frequently ponder Willard's curiosity, admiration, and later disillusionment with Col. Kurtz. As the movie starts, Willard is given a dossier on Kurtz and is perplexed as to why the brass (and likely the CIA) want Kurtz removed from command (i.e. killed), as the crimes he's been charged with are something that has been accepted throughout the war (executing VC spies). As he reads on, also reading mail sent from Kurtz to his family that has been intercepted, he comes to admire Kurtz which also makes him wonder more just why is this guy such a problem? As Willard goes deeper into enemy territory, he becomes more and more obsessed with Kurtz, the central mystery starting to drive Willard mad an separate him from his own humanity. Finally, he comes face to face with Kurtz and has found someone who has completely given in to madness, and so he has no misgivings about carrying out his orders barring a couple of hitches.
Another idea that has occurred to me is the infamous difficulties faced by the cast and crew while making the movie, but especially the issue of casting Marlon Brando and the amount of difficulty people had working with him. By that time, Brando had gained a lot of weight, often refused to memorize lines, read source material, and many other things actors are often time contracted to do when they receive a role. I've often wondered if that played into Martin Sheen's performance as well, since Brando isn't too dissimilar from Kurtz in some ways. An actor who's constantly hyped up, despite the issues that come with casting him. Other actors have sworn by him and said he was great to work with, while directors usually say he's only worth casting if you know exactly what you're getting into. While filming his scenes, Brando would sometimes stop midsentence and announce that he was finished filming for the day. I could see Martin Sheen filming a scene with Brando (actually I'm not sure that they had very many scene together because of the stated issues), and getting into things with Brando suddenly stopping everything. Much like his character's reaction to seeing Kurtz in the flesh, I can imagine both the actor and the character thinking "This is him? This is the man who has been built up so much through this entire ordeal?"
Regarding Brando's weight gain, I've actually made that a headcanon for the movie as well, which also explains why Willard is so quickly dismayed by this man who endured and conquered Special Forces training as a high-ranking officer in his older age. This is a man who should have been build like a tank. While Francis Ford Coppola attempted to keep Brando's body obscured by filming him in the shadows, you could still tell he was a chunky boy. My headcanon is that, on being accepted and even praised by the natives in the place he established in Cambodia, Kurtz gave in to excesses, perhaps as a coping mechanism for his PTSD. The part that he relates to Willard after capturing him, telling him about his team's attempt to establish rapport with the natives and vaccinating them against local diseases only to later find the people they had contacted were killed by the enemy, with every inoculated arm having been amputated, was a very short, direct, and simple way to establish what broke this man, as well as making a commentary on the Vietnam War itself. A war meant to be won in ways that made it unwinnable. So, now Kurtz has completely abandoned everything that made him a compelling leader.
Lastly, if you enjoy this movie and like to play video games, I absolutely have to recommend you play Spec Ops: The Line. It's a great game with good mechanics (same engine and gameplay style as Gears of War), that doesn't reinvent the wheel of gameplay in favor of story and character development. The less said beyond that, however, the better!
what is insanity? thats basically all this movie deals with throughout is several different types of independent thinking bordering on the psychotic.
Is martin Sheen crazy?
what about Duvall's Lt. Colonel Kilgore?
Or is Colonel Kurtz crazy? or is he the smartest of us all for seeing the war for what it really is?
thats why i love the film so much, its not just a supreme study of the vietnam War and why we deserved to get the crap kicked out of us... its a study of the human psyche. :D
Also, reflecting on Capt. Willard's character arc in the movie, I think it's really interesting as the movie starts with him being unable to function at all outside of combat. He notes at the beginning "They brought [the mission] to me like room service. After I did it, I never wanted another one."
Aside from the scene at the French Plantation (which is present depending on the version you watch), there's not much to suggest that Willard would make a transition to civilian life. However, I do think it might be entirely possible, and the Plantation scene is instrumental in setting up that possibility for his character. One of the most tragic things about the Vietnam War was the treatment of veterans by anti-war protestors, which had a tangible and detrimental impact on how veterans returning from the war interacted with their families. Another issue was, and for the longest time has been, that the family members of these veterans (and veterans of other wars) didn't understand the trauma and what kind of impact it has. It's both notable and sad that the movie "First Blood" (the first Rambo movie) reportedly actually saved a number of marriages when it came out, because of Rambo's monologue near the end about how he was essentially used up then discarded without a second thought, only to be abused and mistreated by civilians in all different walks of life. Hell, he's mistreated by the police because they just see him as a vagrant and don't want him to even feel welcome in their quaint little town, so when he defies the police officer's "request" to just go on his way, simply wanting to go to a restaurant and get some food, he's arrested and abused at the station in preparation for his court hearing, with triggers a flashback and kicks the plot into high gear.
Bringing it back to Sheen's character, Willard, the woman who he meets at the plantation shares a moment where she tells him "There are two of you; one who kills and one who loves," before they share a moment of intimacy. I always liked the idea that this was one of his big turning points, where he could finally see a life outside of the war.
I need to watch this movie again.
PTSD is gonna destroy all of them.
and this was the main fault of the American people.
We assumed, since we got our asses kicked, that we should just forget this war and those who fought it.
nevermind the 60 some odd thousand who died...
A shameful part of the U.S.
that still floors me today