10 Gut-Wrenching Moments In War Films
3. Apocalypse Now - Captain Benjamin L. Willard's Anguish
The opening for Francis Ford Coppola's war epic Apocalypse Now isn't anything short of masterful. Perfectly cementing the sentiment towards the Vietnam war, protagonist Captain Benjamin L. Willard's trauma, and aided with Jim Morrison's bellowing nihilism depicting the shift of American politics with a pointless war. Within the first few minutes of this war epic, everything is set and realized thematically. It is the most iconic punch to the face that embodies the emptiness and phantom pain of war.
The film follows the spiral into madness down to its human manifestation of rogue Colonel Kurtz. Before protagonist Captain Benjamin L. Willard ventures into the path of obscurity and desolation, he deals with personal demons of his own. Waiting in a dingy humid motel room in Saigon for his next mission, Willard comes face to face with trauma from the past.
Self-medicating with alcohol and running on fumes of introspection, the shellshock from past conflicts hidden away by combat and constantly moving forward billows to the top - Captain Benjamin L. Willard loses himself.
It's harrowing and a disturbing peak into the psyche of someone who's personal life is tattered and only thing that keeps him motivated and refraining from losing his mind is conflict. Ranking and prestige mean nothing in the end despite taking on a mission that would guarantee him such. Only thing left is trauma and pain sequestered forever close to his heart.