Apocalypse Now

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening
In class we discussed the epic war film, Apocalypse Now from 1979. Set during the Vietnam War and had huge stars in the film like Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, and Robert Duvall and was directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola. The film was loosely based off the Heart of Darkness, written by Joseph Conrad. The screenplay was also by Coppola and John Milius. After the release of the film, it was a huge success and was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. The film is deemed as historically significant and was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 2000.

2) Find a related article (on the film, directed, studio, actor/actress, artistic content, ect.) You can use the library or the Internet. Cite the article or copy the url to your journal entry. Summarize in your own words the related article but do not plagiarize any content.

My article was on the making of the film Apocalypse Now. The film was suppose to be finish filming within 14 weeks in the Philippines in the beginning of the spring of 1976 but actors,weathers,drugs and disasters were all against the film. First, Coppola fired his leading man Harvey Keitel after only two weeks and went with Martin Sheen who at the time was facing drinking problems. When Sheen arrived, it was like World War 4. Coppola was writing the film as the film went along. Then a typhoon hit and production was shut down for short time. After a whole month back in the states, Coppola had to rethink and decided to go back to the jungle. Some crew went while others opted out and stayed. Work now began on the sequences revolving around Marlon Brando. Guess what, he showed up to shooting like a giant whale at 300 pounds. He was so big many things about character changed as well as storyline because he was suppose to be like a warrior and he look like a baby walrus. He also couldn't fit in any costumes. Worst, he hadn't learn any of his lines and production was shut down for a week. That's right... a week. After that, Brando showed one day with no hair and told Coppola that his scenes should all be improved and his scenes should be filmed in shadow and in all black to hide his huge belly. To get in worst, Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack in the middle of shooting and Coppola felt it was his fault and suffer a epileptic seizure. He later stated many time that shooting this movie was a war in its self. This later caused a riff in the friendship of Marlon Brando and Francis Ford Coppola. When trying to get info about the shooting of the film, Brando told a reporter that "why are you making a film about that fat fuck, he owes me $2m." Obviously, Brando was having issues with his royalty checks from Coppola. "You tell that fat fuck that if he pays me the two million, you can film me taking a shit." With that a friendship was ruined.

　

　

　



3) Relate the article to the screening
Overall, the article takes about the strain of making the film but when you look at the film in the whole you almost think there are lying to you. The film from the costumes to the acting (expect Brando) had the feel that this epic film was going to make a huge impact on society and film history. While making it, many thought this film was a huge fail. Even with the negative wall around film, it become a cult favorite and watch by many today.

　

4) Write a critical analysis of the film
Overall, at first I really disliked Apocalypse Now but towards the end I found my self emotional invested into the film. From the set to the characters to the story... I loved it! One part of the film I disliked and probably many others agree to is the horrible acting and just all around negative portrayal Marlon Brando had in this film. He was almost unwatchable at times. I see Marlon Brando as one of the greatest because of his films like Streetcar, On the Water font and The Godfather that it makes me want to forget that he was in this movie so that I can remember him as the great legend he was and not what this movie made him up to be.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/the-strained-making-of-apocalypse-now-1758689.html

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM

1) (X) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.

2) (X) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.

3) (X) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text.

4) (X) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper.

5) (X) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.

6) (X) 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) (X) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality.

8) (X) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.

Name:Antonio Amorim Date:05/11/2014