Francis Ford Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now' has been re-released in selected cinemas across the UK for a week after each and every frame (!) had a digital clean up. I (ashamedly) hadn't seen it before yesterday, but I went to go and see it on the Southbank with my dad and it has swiftly made it into my list of favourite films of all time.
I'd heard so much hype about 'Apocalypse Now' and was of course expecting it to be pretty epic, being about war and all. But it completely took me off guard and what I was met with was a beautifully crafted and incredible looking film more to do with the psychological and maddening effects of war rather than the logistics of the war itself.
Based loosely on the novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the film could well have been directed by a photographer and reminded me of Anton Corbijn's 'Control', in that there were so many different places throughout the film that you could have paused it and said 'that is an amazing photograph'. There are so may iconic images, many of them inspired by the work of war photographer Tim Page whose stunning work captured both the eerie beauty and "the horror" of the Vietnam War.
The opening scene is possibly one of the best I've ever watched. Within the first five minutes I was completely hooked; music by The Doors accompanying overlaid images of a devastating napalm explosion, the unnerving whir of the helicopter blades...
Now imagine that on the big screen and with surround sound. Incredible.
I think it's safe to say that they literally don't make them like this anymore; despite the weakness of the last 20 minutes or so, this film is damn near a masterpiece.
