"I love the smell of napalm in the morning!" Other than the fact that this is a movie set during the Vietnam War and this quote, I know nothing about this movie other than it is something that I've heard men talk about fairly regularly when discussing the war movie genre. I'm not sure if I'm going to like it or not, but I'm hoping I can at least appreciate it for the iconic story and infamy that it carries. November 1st, 1955 was the beginning of the Vietnam War, even though U.S. involvement didn't occur until February 28th, 1961. Due to the timing, I felt it was fitting to do this film first before I get into the more iconic films later this month. Our involvement in this particular war was incredibly polarizing in our society and the widespread effect across our culture was deeply jarring. I know that Full Metal Jacket seems to be more iconic of the times during the Vietnam War, but I've already seen that film, so I can't really watch it for my "How have you never seen that?" blog. Since I don't really know much else about this film, I guess it's time to watch it and see what it's all about!
This is certainly one intense movie. You're shown the horrors of war in a way that other films seem to gloss over. I knew that the Vietnam War brought out the worst in people on both sides, but this goes to a whole new level that I didn't expect. There were such vicious attacks and senseless killings that it was hard to watch. People were on edge and acted in ways they never thought they would in their normal lives. I felt this to be an honest representation of what people went through in Vietnam and I wouldn't even know how they would ever find themselves again after an experience like that. The mindset one would have to take on to survive a situation like that would be one not easily left behind in the jungle. Then there was also the monsters that some people became in the jungles of Vietnam. They truly embraced the horror and found what was lying underneath "polite society."
The movie starts off with Captain Benjamin Willard trying to escape his reality by using drugs or alcohol or both. He has an incredibly rough night and doesn't even get to properly sleep it off. Two soldiers come to visit him bearing new orders. He's forced to sober up, clean up and get in front of some high ranking officers to accept a mission that does not exist and they would deny if he were to get caught. There's a rogue officer in Vietnam and they want his command terminated. I couldn't believe how young Harrison Ford looked in this film! Martin Sheen, too. It was quite amazing to see so many stars in this film, some who weren't even stars at the time. Laurence Fishburne, Robert Duvall (whom I didn't even recognize), Dennis Hopper (who I barely recognized) and Marlon Brando. There was definitely a solid cast. Although, I heard that Marlon Brando got a $1 million salary for the film, didn't get into the shape needed for the role and didn't bother reading the book that his character was based off of. For such a seasoned actor, you would think that a $1 million dollar paycheck would get you more than the presence of the man. I would expect a seasoned actor to come in prepared for the role they were about to play. I guess it's a good thing I wasn't the casting director. I might have considered replacing him with that attitude.
Willard takes a boat to travel through Vietnam to Cambodia where Kurtz (Brando) is located. You meet Kilgore (Duvall) and he's like a celebrity on the battlefield. There's even a news crew filming his team taking over an area on the river. Funny side story, it was actually Coppola, himself, who was the fictitious director of the news crew. The sad thing is, I could really see some delusional news crew out there thinking this would be great footage for the evening news without actually seeing the danger they were in. The crew came in like they were the obvious victors without care or concern for the events happening all around them. They just walked around without keeping an eye on their surroundings, completely sure that they were perfectly safe in this environment, despite the fact that there was still obvious conflict occurring all around them. I'm sure there really are people who would get that over-confident when they continue to succeed in their missions, but the brash attitude of the Lieutenant definitely was disconcerting for me. The man was more concerned about getting his guys out into the water to surf while bombs clearly kept getting lobbed their way, risking their safety. It's a bit much, but I'm sure the author of the book, Heart of Darkness, encountered similar individuals that inspired these characters when he worked on a boat going down the Congo River at the turn of the century, so I doubt it's that far from the reality of war.
As the crew of the boat continues further up the river, they experience the calm tranquility of spending time on the water and they also have to deal with the chaos of war. They lose people on the way up the river to the enemy forces and they kill innocent people when tensions are high and experience is low. I found myself understanding the senselessness of the war they were in and how much everyone suffered for it. This is the type of movie that makes you rethink everything about war. It's brutal in it's execution and brilliant in it's storytelling. It's constant highs and lows and you never know which way the winds will shift in each scene. The level of destruction left in this film's wake, from the physical destruction of the jungles for the shots where they bomb tree lines and villages to the destruction of fictitious people, families and villages left an ache in my chest imagining what the reality of it really was. Especially once you get to the end of the river and Willard is finally facing down the insane genius that Kurtz has become.
Kurtz has inspired a massive force of people to follow him further into the jungle to take down the Viet Cong with strategic and brutal force. There are bodies everywhere as the remaining crew arrives depicting the horror and the atrocities committed in the name of war. Heads are scattered everywhere and blood soaks much of the ground. The entire group knows what the arrival of this crew means and yet they allow them to live despite knowing they intend to take out their leader. It's a level of savagery that even the Vietnamese aren't depicted reaching despite comments to the contrary. Willard understands that he's taken to Kurtz only because it's Kurtz's wish. Their conversation leaves them at an impasse where Willard doesn't even know what he's going to choose to do in this situation. Ultimately, he understands that he needs to complete his mission and it leaves the two battling it out while the rest of the group carries on with a celebration where they sacrifice a water buffalo. I have to address this, though. It was a bit horrifying to watch this. I'm used to American standards where no animals get harmed during the making of movies, so when watching this scene, I kept trying to figure out if they were using some type of special effects to create the scene or if they were actually killing a bull on the screen in front of me. Seeing the blade cut through the animal's neck was shocking and I tried to see if it was an animatronic or something, but the animal's fur and eyes were so real as it was happening that I couldn't see how they could have achieved that look without the use of modern CGI. I had to search the internet and found that this, indeed, was a live animal that was part of the payment for the indigenous tribe to appear in the film. They needed a ritual sacrifice and Coppola decided to film it to use it as part of the story. I am sure that there was a purpose for this ritual, but the image of that bull's eyes is going to haunt me. I would have felt much better if it had just been an animatronic of some sort, but I doubt the result would have been as impactful.
This was the perfect movie to watch in remembrance of the Vietnam War. It's not one that glorifies war, but it sure shows why we had so many soldiers come home with unending problems when trying to regain their normal lives. So many people were shattered from their experiences there and the government didn't have enough programs to care for the people who needed the most help. If you haven't seen this movie yet, it is a great film to see. Just know that you won't come out of it unscathed.
Next week's film is going to be another double feature so I can catch up again. Since I'm doing a "Movember" theme, I have two mob movies coming up and I figured they could be talked about together. The Godfather and Scarface have enough in common and varying differences to be perfect to bounce off of each other. Until then, go check out a movie that you've never seen before! You never know what you might find out there.
For more movie love, check out my other blog, "You're Watching That Again?!"
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