Apocalypse Now is not a Vietnam movie, its not even a war movie. It is a modern-day Epic using the classical conventions of Homer to tell its story. From the opening chords of The Doors "The End" (which is a miniature version of "Oedipus" amongst other myths) we are given clues of the films epic aspirations. All the elements are here: The feeling that we enter a story in progress, like the Odyssey which begins on the journey home after the ten year war, helps to create a sense that Willard (Martin Sheen) has fought his physical war and is ready to move on to war with his self. The unmistakable sense of journey which is snowballing toward an inevitable conclusion. And the obstacles faced by Willard on his journey, his nervous breakdown in the beginning of the film is like a battle of the Gods within himself preparing him for the next step of his life's journey, Kilgore (Robert Duvall) is the Cyclopse, the Playboy Bunnies are the Sirens, and the Dolong bridge is like the River Styx, the entrance to Hades, the point of no return, the screams from the fog are the Furies always in chaotic flux voicing their alienation, and Col. Kurtz (Marlon Brando) is the insane (sane?) collective unconscious of the Gods.
Apocalypse Now is not only an Epic it is THE Epic of its generation, the WWII Generation had Gone With the Wind, the Rock n'Roll Generation has Apocalypse Now. The other important Epic of this Generation is the Star Wars Trilogy which fails in its rather conventional views on morality, its too tight, its too clean, the lines are too clearly drawn, what Star Wars gains in scope with its 3 films is lost in its lack of complexity. The best film of the trilogy The Empire Strikes Back succeeds in being such due to its obvious relation to Greek Tragedy (afterall it does contain one of the greatest reversals in film history). There is an inherent danger in reducing the inner conflict of good and evil down to something as simple as black vs. white, like the Star Wars films do. Lets face it, nothing in life is that simple, and the minute we start believing they are is the minute we start coming apart. Apocalypse Now succeeds precisely because it does come apart, it shows what happens to men in desperate situations and consequently warns us of the dangers of these situations. By the end of the film we aren't sure who is right and who is wrong. When Willard kills Kurtz we don't feel a burden lifted, instead we feel uneasy, because we know there is a little Kurtz in all of us. Any movie that attempts to get an audience to confront these feelings, is no longer just a movie, it transcends to Myth.
Apocalypse Now is not only an Epic it is THE Epic of its generation, the WWII Generation had Gone With the Wind, the Rock n'Roll Generation has Apocalypse Now. The other important Epic of this Generation is the Star Wars Trilogy which fails in its rather conventional views on morality, its too tight, its too clean, the lines are too clearly drawn, what Star Wars gains in scope with its 3 films is lost in its lack of complexity. The best film of the trilogy The Empire Strikes Back succeeds in being such due to its obvious relation to Greek Tragedy (afterall it does contain one of the greatest reversals in film history). There is an inherent danger in reducing the inner conflict of good and evil down to something as simple as black vs. white, like the Star Wars films do. Lets face it, nothing in life is that simple, and the minute we start believing they are is the minute we start coming apart. Apocalypse Now succeeds precisely because it does come apart, it shows what happens to men in desperate situations and consequently warns us of the dangers of these situations. By the end of the film we aren't sure who is right and who is wrong. When Willard kills Kurtz we don't feel a burden lifted, instead we feel uneasy, because we know there is a little Kurtz in all of us. Any movie that attempts to get an audience to confront these feelings, is no longer just a movie, it transcends to Myth.