Apocalypse Now
(1979)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Screenplay by John Milnius and Francis Ford Coppola
Willard's narration written by Michael Herr (author of Dispatches)
Main characters
Capt. Benjamin Willard
Lt. Col. Kilgore (Air Cav leader)
Colonel Kurtz
Martin Sheen
Robert Duvall
Marlon Brando
Americans giving Willard his orders
Colonel Lucas
General Corman
Jerry (civilian intelligence)
Harrison Ford
G.D. Spradlin
Jerry Ziesmer
On the boat
Chief Phillips (boat captain)
Jay “Chef” Hicks (cook)
“Clean” Miller (young guy)
Lance Johnson (surfer)
Albert Hall
Frederic Forrest
Larry Fishburne
Sam Bottoms
At Kurtz’s compound
The photojournalist
Dennis Hopper
Scenes (rough timing)
00:00:00–00:07:35
00:07:35–00:19:00
00:19:00–00:26:00
00:26:00–00:32:00
00:32:00–00:35:00
00:35:00–00:50:15
00:50:15–00:57:00
00:57:00–00:59:15
00:59:15–01:07:30
01:07:30–01:15:30
01:15:30–01:21:40
Willard in his hotel room
Willard gets his orders from higher-ups/we hear Kurtz on tape
Willard meets the Navy PBR boat and its crew/start of Kurtz's dossier
The boat meets the Air Cav/Air Cav “mopping up”/Col. Kilgore's methods
Campfre dinner with the Air Cav
Air Cav attack (helicopters and music)
Willard and the boat start upriver/Chef and Willard hunt for mangoes
More of Kurtz's dossier
Pit stop/USO show
Upriver/more of Kurtz's dossier
the Chief investigates a Vietnamese fshing boat/Willard dissents
(“intermission”: cross-fade to and from black)
00:00:00–00:09:45
00:09:45–00:14:45
00:14:45–00:20:00
00:20:00–00:30:30
00:30:30–00:54:00
00:54:30–01:00:00
01:00:00–01:12:45
The Do Long bridge
The boat is attacked
The boat is attacked again
Upriver—the end of the dossier/arriving at Kurtz's compound/the photojournalist
Willard taken prisoner in Kurtz's house/Kurtz's philosophy
Willard is set free and fnishes his mission
Willard leaves Kurtz's station on the boat
Some points of comparison and
notes to help you understand the flm
1.
Colonel Kurtz's dossier—which Willard is reading in pieces throughout the movie—is very
important to understanding the flm (and also makes him a bit different from the Mr. Kurtz of
the book). It requires some political understanding of America's role in Vietnam.
a) Kurtz was being “groomed” by the American government for one of the “top slots in
the corporation” (says Willard). Kurtz's military record was impeccable: honors,
commendations, prime assignments.
b) In 1964, Kurtz was one of the key “advisors” sent in to Vietnam by President Johnson to
gauge the potential for American victory in defeating the Communists. Kurtz's report to
LBJ apparently was not optimistic that America could win the war. This report hurt
Kurtz's standing in American military and political circles.
c) Sensing that the military/government is not listening to the truth, Kurtz turns away from
them the only way he can. He joins Special Forces. Special Forces training is usually
reserved for 18-year-olds starting their careers. Kurtz, at 38, was denied joining, then
threatened to resign his commission, so the military relented and let him do it. If you're
a member of Special Forces, you'll never be promoted past general—it is for soldiers
who desire hard-core military combat and tactics, not politics.
d) Kurtz then went into Vietnam as part of Special Forces. “Operation Arcangel” was
illustrative of Kurtz's tactics: risky, unauthorized strikes on the enemy. It is implied here
and in other places that he had more success than anyone else in advancing American
military successes in Vietnam, but that the generals didn't like his style.
2.
The “manager” of the book—the guy who runs the colonial operation in the Congo from the
Central Station, and then who goes up river with Marlow to Mr. Kurtz—is likely spread out
among a number of different characters in the movie, none of whom appear after the frst 15
minutes: the generals/intelligence agents in the movie who give Willard his mission. None of
these people is on the boat in the movie, so it's a slight but important difference.
3.
The helmsman in the book compares roughly with the Chief of the boat in the movie. The Chief
is clearly a more powerful, fullyformed character than the helmsman, and has a different
relationship with Willard than the helmsan does with Marlow in the book.
4.
Regarding the Chief and “Clean” (the young “Larry” Fishburne), note that a black man is
commander and Clean is possibly the most decent man on the boat (or at least youngest). Note
who makes it alive to Kurtz's station . . . there may be some racial commentary here in relation
to the book's problematic views on race.
5.
The Outer Station should be compared to the Air Cav scenes. Kilgore, the commander of the
Air Cav, matches up nicely with the white-suited accountant of the Outer Station.
6.
The Central Station analog in the flm is most likely the Do Long Bridge. Some excellent places
for contrasting interpretations here.
7.
The Russian (harlequin) of the book is the Photojournalist in the flm. Many of his lines of
dialogue are verbatim from the book, though we get to see more of him in the movie.
8.
Note Willard's choice at the very end of the movie (when he's back on the boat). How does this
compare with Marlow near the end of the book?
The screenplay is available in full on my website, a searchable PDF fle.