2. Apocalypse Now (1979)
US army captain Benjamin Willard is having a drunken time of it in Saigon when two military men approach him and give him a special mission. Willard is to go up the Nung River, into the jungle and find Kurtz - a US army colonel who has gone insane and now controls his own troops in neutral Cambodia. There is an eventful sailing up to where Kurtz resides but the details of that don't concern us as we are principally interested in Colonel Kurtz himself. As Willard comes closer to Kurtz, he sees bodies littering the side of the river. Arriving at Kurtz's outpost, Willard and his men meet a deranged photographer who waxes lyrical about Kurtz's philosophical and oratorical skills which are enthralling the people. There are dead bodies and severed heads all over the camp. Willard is brought to a darkened temple where he meets Kurtz who derides him as an errand boy. While tied to a stake, Kurtz drops one of Willard's men's severed head onto his lap. This freaks Willard out just a tiny bit. Kurtz lets him go free and allows him to roam the compound. In exchange for this, Willard has to listen to Kurtz's insane ramblings on war, humanity and civilisation. Plus he praises the ruthlessness of the Viet Cong. Willard finally has the sense to attack Kurtz with a machete and he sails away to the echo of Kurtz's words - "The horror.... The horror" When I was a student we were taught the maxim "All power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely" - this is definitely the case with Kurtz. He was a highly decorated war colonel who went insane and used his charisma to become something of a tinpot God. In the film, we never see him in daylight - only shadows - which enhances his mystique. Of course Kurtz is morally bankrupt in his madness but can put forth such rhetoric that people are mesmerised by him. Perhaps he represents everything that is brutal, ugly and insane about war. Brando is the king of rambling monologues and to step into Apocalypse Now is to be immersed in the madness of Kurtz.