Apocalypse Now (1979) review

This movie regularly appears on the list of the best films ever made and movies with the best cinematography. It's undeniably worthy of it's acclaim and certainly a work of art. I don't even understand all of the symbolism in it but it doesn't matter. Sometimes you just need to watch a movie like this and not so much analyze it but just let it absorb you emotionally. 

It's pointless writing about the plot because the movie doesn't really have one. It's not so much as a story as it is a journey into darkness. It could be described as a meditation on the absurdity of war. Captain Willard, played by Martin Sheen, is giving an assignment to travel up to Cambodia and assassinate rogue green beret Colonel Kurtz who has become a demigod to the local natives. He's like if Charles Manson and Buddha had a baby. He speaks cryptically and has his own unorthodox philosophy on war.

I like how the film opens with Willard waking up in a bedroom as if he has dreamt about a napalm strike. There is a beautiful montage where his vision is overlaid with his face, upside down. There's an image of an idol head carved into a monolith, which is seen near the end of the film - it's a clue that these visions are a flash-forward of events after Kilgore's death. Disoriented and unsure of his surroundings he looks out the window and remembers he is still in Saigon - it's like he's stuck in limbo. Depression sets in and he experiences some kind of alcoholic fueled mental breakdown. He's crying, punches a mirror and cuts his hand.

"I wanted a mission and for my sins, they gave me one." - Willard

He finally receives an assignment and meets with two military men and one quiet CIA operative who has only one line in the film: "terminate with extreme prejudice." The film doesn't need conventional twists and turns because the characters are strong and imagery is engrossing. The characters drip with sweat from the humidity, scenes are filled with colorful smoke and enveloping mist. You feel like you're on the ominous mission with Willard. 

There are so many iconic moments in this film: the mesmerizing opening sequence with the palm trees being napalmed as The Doors "The End" ominously plays on the soundtrack, Willard staring up a ceiling fan with the sound of a helicopter in the background, the helicopter sequence with Wagner's "Ride of the Valkeryies" playing on loudspeakers to terrorize the Vietnamese, Kilgore's insanity and obsession with surfing instead of actually fighting a war and keeping his men safe, the scene with the tiger in the jungle that sneaks up on Chef, the Playmates landing from a helicopter with floodlights in the night background, the lunatic photojournalist played by Dennis Hopper and the final LSD trip ending where Willard kills Kurtz juxtaposed with his disciples slaughtering a bull.