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Cinematography by Vittorio Storaro
Marlon Brando
Robert Duvall
Martin Sheen
Dennis Hopper
�Everyone gets what he wants. I wanted a mission. And for my sins they gave me one."
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| Apocalypse Now 1 of 10 |
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| Directed by Francis Ford Coppola Cinematography by Vittorio Storaro Marlon Brando Robert Duvall Martin Sheen Dennis Hopper |
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| What a mess! There were a few times where it was a glorious mess, but those were few and far between. And even then, it was still a mess. I am sure this will be met with rage and disbelief by most of the Hollywood elite, but I refuse to change my mind. Even Coppola saw it. Right before watching Apocalypse Now, I watched Hearts of Darkness, a documentary made by Coppola�s wife about the actual filming. In this film, there is a section where Coppola says that he is trying to tell his supporters that the film is in a tailspin and he can't pull out of it. He sums up his opinion of the film by saying: �It is beyond saving but no one will listen to me." I tend to agree with the man himself. The story is a mess, about as loosely based on Conrad�s Heart of Darkness as is The Journey of Natty Gann, or maybe Big Fish. The acting is horrendous; everyone is acting stoned. In some cases, they actually are stoned. And Brando tried to improvise everything, in spite of what Coppola tried to tell him. The results are very, very random. Visually, Vittorio Storaro is incredibly irritating; apparently he never heard the term �realistic lighting� before. If he did, he seems to have rejected it wholesale. Finally, the film�s biggest weakness is that it portrays absolutely everyone in Vietnam as either crazy, drugged out of their minds, or both. The result is that there is absolutely no point of reference. Duval�s character is brilliant, or at least it would be if he were the �crackpot commander" everyone fears and adores. Instead, he�s just another nut. I have an uncle who was in Vietnam. There were normal people there. And the film�s refusal to admit this is a huge flaw. Not a good experience. I�ll put it up there along with Taxi Driver and 2001:ASO as films that are tremendously praised, and terribly bad.
�Everyone gets what he wants. I wanted a mission. And for my sins they gave me one." |
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