Apocalypse Now
Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now� has been depicted both as a pro-war film (Tomasulo) as well as an anti-war film. However, the argument could be made that the film was neither pro – war nor anti – war, but rather just anti – "War in Vietnam". Dissimilar to World War I and II, which were viewed as patriotic and just, the Vietnam War has forever been rife with conflict. It was the longest and most detested war in American history. Fifty-eight thousand American soldiers lost their lives and the Vietnamese people suffered irreparable damage. The nation was in turmoil and could not comprehend why their sons, fathers, uncles etc. were being shipped overseas to fight a war that wasn’t theirs to fight.
Scenes like the one in which American soldiers were encouraging one another while they opened fire on Vietnamese women and children "depict[ed] the absurdity and outright lunacy of America's Vietnam policies� (Tomasulo). These grotesque scenes of violence helped depict the mass confusion that occurred both on the battle field as well as in the war room. The deterioration of Captain Willard’s psyche, for example, could be viewed as a metaphor for the breaking down of American military strategy in Vietnam.
Because the Vietnam War, both on the battle field as well as the home front, was unlike any other war in American history, the argument remains whether Coppola was making a statement against war in general, or rather a statement against the War in Vietnam. His depiction of the actions of American soldiers in Vietnam suggests that the film called into question the Vietnam War rather than all wars.
Ian Bell