3) The End – Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is a film of such bleak extremity and dazed power that it has to be watched on the biggest screen possible, with a sound mix to match. Much of that has to do with its hypnotic opening sequence, set to the moody chords of The End, by The Doors.
Coppola plunges us into the heart of darkness from that opening shot, no titles needed. The napalm swirls, the helicopters fly low and vibrate right above us and the trees go up in an inferno of fiery smoke. Interestingly, this opening shot is not in the screenplay; instead, it was a long take of the burning forest from the “Ride of the Valkyries” scene about half an hour into the film. It was one trim of several thousand that Coppola and the editors made, but it turned out to complement the depravity of that Doors tune. Instead of hearing explosions, you hear the lit fire of Morrison’s voice.
The scene then shows Cpt. Willard (Martin Sheen) lying in a haze on his hotel bed. He has experienced the hell of war and its wrath is still seething through him. Like Morrison’s vocal performance in the song, Willard is going stir crazy and erupts into a volcanic display of hurtful words (which, in the film, grow more intense as the burning jungle is superimposed over Willard losing his mind). The End is a song that slowly descends into madness and is the perfect introduction to a film that does all it can to make us understand the horror (the horror…) of the Vietnam War.
