Cory Massimino

Review: Apocalypse Now (1979)

October 5, 2020 by Cory

★★½

Sprawling in its scale, extravagant in its action sequences, and bold in its themes, “Apocalypse Now” is surely one of the most ambitious movies I’ve ever seen. It particularly succeeds in using noirish lighting, jarring music, and meticulous editing emphasizing fade cuts to create a truly nightmarish atmosphere with an almost surrealist quality — a far cry from the realism of Coppola’s previous movies. Its use of geography to express theme is also quite thoughtful. And the performances by Sheen and Brando absolutely live up to the high expectations.

The pace of “Apocalypse Now” is sometimes patient and sometimes rapid, but never in between. Unfortunately this makes for a frustrating, uneven viewing experience. It’s hard to appreciate the slower moments because they feel glacial compared to the surrounding scenes, and it’s hard to appreciate the rapid moments because they feel instantaneous compared to the surrounding scenes. The patient scenes almost achieve a kind of meditative vibe, but instead they feel mostly like desperate respites from the large-scale spectacle. And without moments that actually feel softly reflective, the intense violence and brutality becomes impossible to process.

A story of such grimness, such depression borders on unendurable without characters that you can sympathize with, even in the most minor and marginal of ways. Even the protagonists of “The Godfather” enjoy a degree of sympathy; we understand the oppression Italian-Americans have endured and we understand how motivating family and tradition can be. But “Apocalypse Now” doesn’t feature any sympathetic characters, only sociopathic robots engaging in tortuous violence for two and a half hours.

I get it. War is hell. I couldn’t agree more with that idea. But a series of loosely related, soulless set pieces, wobbling back and forth between gratuitous gruesomeness and gorgeously lit and shot seascapes, doesn’t ultimately come together for a compelling, integrated experience. Part of the reason those patient moments don’t read as softly reflective is just because the characters themselves are not reflective. But without any human element to really hook onto, “Apocalypse Now” fails to place the viewer inside the subjective perspective of the protagonist and becomes detached, distant and ultimately empty.

Comments |0|