Shiori StraussFilm History 05/13/2014

Screening Report for Apocalypse Now

The Godfather’s own Francis Ford Coppola originally released Apocalypse Now in 1979. Not

only did it have a great well-known director, but starred actors such as Martin Sheen,

Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall. The film was inspired by a novel by Joseph Conrad,

Heart of Darkness, about a European, Kurtz, who ended up in the Congo and established

himself like a god. In the movie, Willard (Martin Sheen) is on a mission to kill the changed

man, (Marlon Brando), and during his journey he tries to understand how a man with such

a great reputation, turned “mad.” Well respected, film critic, Roger Ebert, a man who’s seen

too many movies to count, said that it is the best Vietnam movie and one of the greatest

films of all time.

The making of Apocalypse Now was hell for everyone on the set. There is even a

documentary that came out in 1991, called Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse

that has clips and details about Francis Ford Coppola’s struggle with everything on set, the

nature, actors, budget, etc. According to Death By Films’ Paul Edwards, “it has gone down in

history as the most chaotic, hellish nightmare of a production that there has ever been.”

Apparently, Coppola wanted Steve McQueen instead of Martin Sheen for Willard’s Role. In

fact, Martin Sheen was one actor who really struggled, going through a personal alcoholic

breakdown. One day on set, he got roaring drunk and asked to be filmed. He got extremely

aggressive, attacked Coppola, punched mirrors- and it was all on tape. Some of that footage

is in the hotel room scene. The whole cast was a drunken mess; Coppola had an epileptic

seizure, soon after Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack. The infamous parties definitely

didn’t help them act professional on set.

Although the movie took 68 weeks to film, when it was originally supposed to be 6 weeks,

Coppola’s film was a huge success. The fact that the movie making experience was so

complicated, draining, and terrible, makes it all that much better that it was so successful.

The bedroom scene was an epic one, it makes sense that he was actually because he looks

it. They might have been drunk and high on set, but the cast killed it in action and the credit

goes to the director, because he put those scenes together and made it work.

http://www.deathbyfilms.com/hell-on-earth-the-making-of-apocalypse-now

This might be a bit off topic but the Vietnam War movie, a crazy cast, epic pool parties, and

budget problems… Tropic Thunder? I have seen Tropic Thunder many times, and I never

knew that it was developed to satirize Francis Ford Coppola’s intense movie making

struggle. Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen, the director and writers, did a good

job in taking a hellish nightmare and using it to make us laugh.

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 1) (  ) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class. 2) (  ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 3) (  ) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 4) (  ) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper. 5) (  ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read. 6) (  ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 7) (  ) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 8) (  ) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.