Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now
Xianxin Huang
Francis Ford Coppola stated when creating his masterpiece “Apocalypse Now” that he wanted to capture “the horror, insanity and moral dilemma” of Vietnam War. The terror, the madness and the sense of confusion reaches its peak once the PBR Street Gang arrives at the Do Lung Bridge. Do Lung Bridge is one of the most significant setting in the film as it is the last trading post before Cambodia, before Kurtz- the point of no return for the soldiers. It is at this point the picture becomes more surreal and abstract. Willard and Lances go ashore to heavy gun fire and insanity, only to realize that no one is even in charge of the battle. This visual and verbal techniques such as low key lighting, wide shot, sound tracks and dialogue are among the most striking, unique and effectively use that I have ever seen.
The “Do Lung Bridge” scene starts off with a wide shot of PBR Street Gang cuts through the silence water in the evening light. In his voice over, Willard express that the whole Vietnam War is based on lies. “It was the way we had over here of living with ourselves. We’d cut them in half with a machine gun and give them a Band-Aid. It was a lie—and the more I saw of them, the more I hated lies.” Willard narrates these words after fatally shooting the Vietnamese peasant woman on the sampan. With this act, he makes himself complicit with Kurtz. In his narration, Willard details the hypocrisy of the U.S. military: just before Willard shoots the woman, Clean opens fire on Vietnamese peasants. Although Clean senselessly and without provocation opened fire there was no consequences, but when Willard, who is more focused on getting to Kurtz at his point, killed the wounded women, the crew “were never going to look at me the same way again.” Even though both actions, despite the motivations behind them, result in the death of innocents. Yet although his crew members are also complicit in the atrocity, they see Willard different after the
Xianxin Huang
Francis Ford Coppola stated when creating his masterpiece “Apocalypse Now” that he wanted to capture “the horror, insanity and moral dilemma” of Vietnam War. The terror, the madness and the sense of confusion reaches its peak once the PBR Street Gang arrives at the Do Lung Bridge. Do Lung Bridge is one of the most significant setting in the film as it is the last trading post before Cambodia, before Kurtz- the point of no return for the soldiers. It is at this point the picture becomes more surreal and abstract. Willard and Lances go ashore to heavy gun fire and insanity, only to realize that no one is even in charge of the battle. This visual and verbal techniques such as low key lighting, wide shot, sound tracks and dialogue are among the most striking, unique and effectively use that I have ever seen.
The “Do Lung Bridge” scene starts off with a wide shot of PBR Street Gang cuts through the silence water in the evening light. In his voice over, Willard express that the whole Vietnam War is based on lies. “It was the way we had over here of living with ourselves. We’d cut them in half with a machine gun and give them a Band-Aid. It was a lie—and the more I saw of them, the more I hated lies.” Willard narrates these words after fatally shooting the Vietnamese peasant woman on the sampan. With this act, he makes himself complicit with Kurtz. In his narration, Willard details the hypocrisy of the U.S. military: just before Willard shoots the woman, Clean opens fire on Vietnamese peasants. Although Clean senselessly and without provocation opened fire there was no consequences, but when Willard, who is more focused on getting to Kurtz at his point, killed the wounded women, the crew “were never going to look at me the same way again.” Even though both actions, despite the motivations behind them, result in the death of innocents. Yet although his crew members are also complicit in the atrocity, they see Willard different after the