I just did a rewatch of the 4k 'final cut' restoration of the film not that long ago. I read "Heart of Darkness" in Highschool and my english teacher petitioned the school for months trying to get approval to have us watch Apocalypse Now and she could never get them to do it. Watching it the first time: I realized why my teacher was so desperate for us to see it.
Straight up: I think the film is brilliant but the complete experience benefits from some context of the original story its based on, as well as some knowledge of the Iraq war. I took some special treats to heighten the experience and it really helps crystalize the feeling that the same framework of a story about British colonialism from 1800s is just as relevant set in the vietnam war, and could probably be easily palette swapped with a desert theme today. "All of this has happened before, all of this will happen again".
Also random sidenote:
Sometimes on special treats my brain likes to make really weird connections to other things. In the movie during the "charlie don't surf sequence" there's an entire segment devoted to them napalm striking a village and section of the jungle where we've clearly seen women and children playing. As the survivors are coming out of the woodwork some army official is on a megaphone screeching "Remember! Above all we are here to help! WE ARE HERE TO LIBERATE YOU!!!"
For some reason I couldn't help but think of "Mars Attacks" from Tim Burton and the sequence where the Martians first arrive and announce "We come in Peace", only to proceed to slaughter the entire gathering. There are multiple sections where something similar happens: the aliens proclaim friendly intentions only to continue the slaughter.
My younger self always read that surface level as "the translation software is broken", and its totally possible I'm giving Tim Burton too much credit...but if that was his intention that's a hell of a deep cut.
I just did a rewatch of the 4k 'final cut' restoration of the film not that long ago. I read "Heart of Darkness" in Highschool and my english teacher petitioned the school for months trying to get approval to have us watch Apocalypse Now and she could never get them to do it. Watching it the first time: I realized why my teacher was so desperate for us to see it.
Straight up: I think the film is brilliant but the complete experience benefits from some context of the original story its based on, as well as some knowledge of the Iraq war. I took some special treats to heighten the experience and it really helps crystalize the feeling that the same framework of a story about British colonialism from 1800s is just as relevant set in the vietnam war, and could probably be easily palette swapped with a desert theme today. "All of this has happened before, all of this will happen again".
Also random sidenote:
Sometimes on special treats my brain likes to make really weird connections to other things. In the movie during the "charlie don't surf sequence" there's an entire segment devoted to them napalm striking a village and section of the jungle where we've clearly seen women and children playing. As the survivors are coming out of the woodwork some army official is on a megaphone screeching "Remember! Above all we are here to help! WE ARE HERE TO LIBERATE YOU!!!"
For some reason I couldn't help but think of "Mars Attacks" from Tim Burton and the sequence where the Martians first arrive and announce "We come in Peace", only to proceed to slaughter the entire gathering. There are multiple sections where something similar happens: the aliens proclaim friendly intentions only to continue the slaughter. My younger self always read that surface level as "the translation software is broken", and its totally possible I'm giving Tim Burton too much credit...but if that was his intention that's a hell of a deep cut.