Apocalypse Now - Kim Hanlon
Apocalypse Now was one of the most psychotic and worst films that I have ever seen. The story line was outrageous, very sick and twisted. It is interesting that the writer did not portray a factual story, instead he created a very imaginative story with many did different angles and odd events.
The idea of American ‘myth making’ when it comes to films abut the war in Vietnam holds true when you look at this film. The war in Vietnam should not have happened and history says that the U.S. lost the war in Vietnam. Hollywood needed to promote the war in Vietnam and make the public believe that the U.S. was there for a good reason and that we were winning the war. Hollywood also tried these tactics during WWII in the film Sahara. In Apocalypse Now the writers portrayed the American soldiers as hard-ass soldiers who went surfing during combat and completely destroyed the opposition. They also portrayed the U.S. as very helpful and caring, in a way, to the people that they killed and injured. The film plays into the myth in the way that they portrayed the U.S. in combat, but the part of the storyline about the cult does not feed into the myth. That part of the film throws me.
The film is both pro and anti war for the same reasons why it fits and does not fit into the myth. I think the film writers tried to make the film anti-war. By making the soldiers surf and the cult that is formed deep in the jungle by a very renowned General in the military.
I think the film does a good job of showing the effects of war on the human mind and soul. It shows how harsh the effects of war on humans by the way that they portrayed the General being in control of his cult.