Coppolas Exhausted Eschatology: Apocalypse Now Reconsidered1

C o p p o l a s Exhausted Eschatology:
Apocalypse Now Reconsidered
ASBJØRN
1
GRØNSTAD
In the fall o f 1 9 9 4 , as an u n d e r g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t at the University o f
California,
Santa
Barbara,
I wrote a t e r m p a p e r for A n n a
Brusutti's
" I n t r o d u c t i o n to C i n e m a " class. T h e p a p e r w a s called " E d i t i n g , mise-enscene, a n d c i n e m a t o g r a p h y in a selected s e q u e n c e f r o m Apocalypse
Now"
A l t h o u g h the reader's general c o m m e n t s were quite s y m p a t h e t i c to m y
rather
flagrandy
formalist analysis o f the " S u z i e Q" s e g m e n t , he d i d p o i n t
o u t that I h a d , to q u o t e a r e m a r k scribbled in the m a r g i n o n t h e last p a g e ,
" g l o s s e d over... s o m e o f the historical imagery." Little d i d I k n o w then that
the question o f history in relation to Apocalypse Now w o u l d resurface a l m o s t
a d e c a d e later in a s l i g h d y m o r e ceremonial context. G i v e n the chance, a m I
g o i n g to skirt the issue o n c e again? C a n w e felicitously talk a b o u t a f o r m o f
historical i m a g e r y that has n o t been s u b l a t e d b y w h a t T h o m a s Elsaesser in
his b o o k o n W e i m a r c i n e m a calls the historical imaginary?
E m b e d d e d in t h e c u r r e n t topic, q u i t e intriguingly, is a peculiar t y p e
o f p a r a d o x . O n t h e o n e h a n d , I a m specifically asked to present my
analysis o f F r a n c i s C o p p o l a ' s excessive a n d p e r h a p s o v e r - d i s c u s s e d film
Apocalypse Now ( 1 9 7 9 ) , o n the other h a n d this analysis is o n e that s h o u l d
b e carried o u t w i t h special reference to the i n t e r p r e t i v e — o r p e r h a p s
m e t h o d o l o g i c a l — c a t e g o r i e s o f film genre, historical c o n t e x t , a n d literary
pretext. W e are clearly in t h e r e a l m o f prefixed textualities here. H o w e v e r ,
I a m n o t at all s u r e that an analysis o f Apocalypse Now that is authentically
m y o w n w o u l d in fact b e c o m p a t i b l e w i t h t h e c o n c e r n s i n d i c a t e d in the
lecture t o p i c . T h a t is, h a d it o c c u r r e d to m e to d o scholarly w o r k o n this
' This essay is a revised version of a lecture offered as a "trial lecture" for the degree of Dr.
Art. at the University of Bergen, December 11, 2003. The topic for the lecture was "Your
analysis of Francis Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979) with special reference to the film's
genre, historical context, and literary pretext." The occasion usefully presented me with an
opportunity to reassess the nature and substance of Coppola's vision in terms of what may
be seen as an anti-generic yet re-historicized sensibility.
121
C o p p o l a ' s Exhausted Eschatology: Apocalypse Now Reconsidered
particular film, m y critical e m p h a s i s w o u l d in all likelihood b e different.
C a n I, therefore, legitimately discuss C o p p o l a ' s film with regard to genre,
c o n t e x t , a n d pretext a n d still call the analysis mine? T h e struggle to
reconcile these conflicting perspectives will in diverse ways i n f o r m the
present a r g u m e n t , i n d i s p u t a b l y p r o v i d i n g m u c h horror a l o n g the way.
Reflecting u p o n Apocalypse
Now for the first t i m e in years, I realize
t h a t it is very difficult, p e r h a p s even i m p o s s i b l e , to conceive o f t h e film's
narrative as a p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l entity entirely d i v o r c e d f r o m n o t i o n s o f
sheer size, s c o p e , scale, or m a g n i t u d e . A 1 6 - m o n t h s h o o t i n g s c h e d u l e , 2 0 0
h o u r s w o r t h o f footage, an e d i t i n g p r o c e s s that t o o k three years
to
c o m p l e t e , three different e n d i n g s , a n d a sense o f a general t u r m o i l o n the
set ( s u b s t a n c e a b u s e , a heart attack, threats o f suicide) that w o u l d p r o b a b l y
i m p r e s s even S a m P e c k i n p a h — t h e significance o f these facts is n o t merely
a n e c d o t a l . T h e c o n f o u n d i n g e n o r m i t y o f t h e film is an inextricable p a r t o f
Coppola's
text a n d as s u c h
it militates
against a n y predilection
for
Now is s i m p l y
t o o m o n u m e n t a l l y u n w i e l d y to b e relegated t o the formal stringencies o f
g e n r e . M o r e o v e r , an essential q u e s t i o n that n e e d s to b e a d d r e s s e d is h o w
o u r a p p r e c i a t i o n a n d u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f C o p p o l a ' s film is e n r i c h e d b y
d e f i n i n g it as a V i e t n a m film, a war film, or even as a genre film to b e g i n
w i t h . If, for instance, Apocalypse Now is a V i e t n a m film, is it a V i e t n a m
film in the s a m e w a y that, say, Casualties of War (Brian D e P a l m a 1 9 8 9 ) is
o n e ? D o e s the former s u g g e s t a generic i n t e n t i o n , or intentionality, in the
s a m e w a y that for e x a m p l e Chicago ( R o b M a r s h a l l 2 0 0 2 ) i n t e n d s to b e (in
t h e sense o f w a n t i n g to b e or a s p i r i n g to be) a musical, or Far
From
Heaven ( T o d d H a y n e s 2 0 0 2 ) a m e l o d r a m a ? F u r t h e r m o r e , w h y is it that
t h e p r o b l e m o f genre m a y b e b r o u g h t u p with respect to Apocalypse
Now
b u t h a r d l y in relation to the literary text f r o m w h i c h it putatively d r a w s its
p r i n c i p a l inspiration? (Heart of Darkness
is n o t a d v e n t u r e , n o t travel
literature, b u t a novel or novella, p e r i o d ) .
structuralist ramification; as a c i n e m a t i c project, Apocalypse
T h e idea o f genre usually implies a n inherited array o f formal or
t h e m a t i c c o n v e n t i o n s or attributes, w h i c h in turn c o m p r i s e s a tradition.
Meticulously
to
pinpoint
the textual
features
that c o n f o r m
to
pre-
e s t a b l i s h e d generic t a x o n o m i e s is o n t h e w h o l e an u n w e l c o m e enterprise,
a n analytical process that s o o n w o u l d have to c o n f r o n t w h a t A n d r e w
Tudor
o n c e referred to as the ' " e m p i r i c i s t d i l e m m a ' "
(1986:
5):
to
d e t e r m i n e w h e t h e r a given film is a W e s t e r n requires a set o f e m p i r i c a l l y
verifiable criteria, b u t in order to k n o w w h a t these criteria are o n e w o u l d
first n e e d an a priori c o n c e p t i o n o f w h a t constitutes a W e s t e r n .
122
Such
Asbjørn Grønstad
t a u t o l o g i c a l g y m n a s t i c s rarely represents a n y t h i n g m o r e t h a n " a crudely
useful w a y o f d e l i n e a t i n g the A m e r i c a n c i n e m a " ( 1 9 8 6 : 3 ) . A c c o r d i n g to
T h o m a s S o b c h a c k , the g e n r e film is a structure that e m b o d i e s the i d e a o f
f o r m a n d t h e strict a d h e r e n c e
to form that is opposed to experimentation, novelty, or tampering
with the given order o f things. T h e genre film, like all classical art,
is basically conservative, both aesthetically and politically. T o
embody a radical tenor or romantic temper in a classical form is to
violate that form at its heart. (1986: 112)
Splendidly
experimental,
Coppola's
sensibility
seems
by
and
large
antithetical to this d o g m a t i c " a d h e r e n c e to f o r m " w h i c h typifies t h e g e n r e
film.
K u r t z a n d K i l g o r e , for e x a m p l e , are a far cry f r o m the k i n d o f s t o c k
characters t h a t p o p u l a t e g e n e r i c
fiction.
In t h e case o f Apocalypse
Now, the all t o o p r o b a b l e dysfunctionality o f
w h i c h T u d o r h i n t s at is certainly n o t
d i m i n i s h e d b y t a k i n g into a c c o u n t the u n a m b i g u o u s a u t e u r status
c o n f e r r e d u p o n C o p p o l a at the t i m e . A u t e u r i s m , a c o n c e p t w h i c h s e e m s to
g r o w increasingly recalcitrant the m o r e i n d i g n a n t l y it is d e c l a r e d to b e
defunct, has always h a d a t r o u b l e d relationship w i t h t h e n o t i o n o f g e n r e .
T h u s , Barry
Lyndon
is a S t a n l e y K u b r i c k film first, a c o s t u m e
d r a m a / h i s t o r i c a l e p i c o n l y s e c o n d ; Reservoir Dogs is a T a r a n t i n o film first,
a g a n g s t e r m o v i e s e c o n d . T h i s particular a m b i v a l e n c e w h i c h characterizes
t h e relation b e t w e e n g e n r e a n d a u t e u r i s m is crystallized b y t h e case o f J o h n
F o r d ; his films are n o t merely W e s t e r n s , b u t , m u c h m o r e revealingly, J o h n
F o r d W e s t e r n s , w h i c h is s o m e t h i n g altogether different. Finally, a genre's
visual a n d narrative c o d e s , or " i c o n o g r a p h i e s , " w h i c h S o b c h a c k calls t h e m
( 1 9 8 6 : 1 0 6 ) , m a y occasionally b e deceptive. J a n e C a m p i o n ' s recent In the
Cut ( 2 0 0 3 ) , for e x a m p l e , is g y n o c e n t r i c yet p o s t - f e m i n i s t art c i n e m a in t h e
g u i s e o f a c o n v e n t i o n a l thriller. T h e p o i n t is n o t h o w e v e r that a n y generic
r e a d i n g o f t h e film is invalid b u t rather that a c o m p r e h e n s i o n o f a film like
In the Cut in terms o f g e n r e unnecessarily constrains the
film's
h e r m e n e u t i c a l c o m p a s s . U n d e r t a k e n slavishly, g e n r e criticism b e c o m e s a
g u a r a n t o r for t h e reaffirmation o f the o b v i o u s . In short, t h e t h e m a t i c stylistic strictures o f g e n r e m a y at t i m e s p r o m o t e a particular k i n d o f
m y o p i a ; g e n e r i c c o n v e n t i o n s b e c o m e a n o b f u s c a t o r y screen w h i c h thwarts
rigorous
generic
formations
2
2
See Tom Ryall's article "Genre and Hollywood" for a more thorough discussion of the
relationship between auteurism and genre.
123
Coppola's Exhausted Eschatology: Apocalypse Now Reconsidered
a n y a t t e m p t to m o v e b e y o n d a surface reading o f a text. A s t h e late
R a y m o n d D u r g n a t a r g u e d , " I n s o f a r as n o two m o v i e s p o s e q u i t e the s a m e
p r o b l e m in q u i t e t h e s a m e terms, n o two movies can h a v e q u i t e the s a m e
theme" (1977: 8).
A n d y e t — w i t h regard to Apocalypse
Now—we
c a n n o t really d i s p e n s e
whole-heartedly with the n o t i o n o f genre. T h a t w o u l d b e t o o
facile.
P e r h a p s C o p p o l a ' s m o v i e is akin to that other leviathan o f A m e r i c a n
c i n e m a , Citizen
Kane,
in that, a l t h o u g h it displays s o m e elements that
c o u l d b e d e s c r i b e d as generic, it is n o t in a n y f u n d a m e n t a l w a y a genre
film.
Adventure,
Vietnam
film,
action
movie,
Now c o n t a i n s figural shards o f all
these genres, a n d thus the film m a y best b e characterized as transgeneric.
J u s t as the inter-relations between different genres are essentially " m o b i l e , "
w h i c h N i c k B r o w n e p o i n t s o u t in his preface to the 1 9 9 8 a n t h o l o g y
Refiguring
American
Film Genres ( 1 9 9 8 : xiv), s o are the intrafilmic
relations between different generic constellations volatile a n d fluid. T h e
p e r f o r m a n c e o f s u c h hybridity in Apocalypse
Now m a k e s the film
generically i m p u r e . C o - e x i s t i n g o n the s a m e narrative canvas are features
associated with the V i e t n a m film (the diegetic c h r o n o t o p e , the setting, is
V i e t n a m a n d C a m b o d i a d u r i n g the war); the action film ( C o p p o l a resorts
to spectacle in the scene where K i l g o r e ' s T e u t o n i c a r m y a t t a c k the village);
t h e h a r d b o i l e d genre ( M i c h a e l H e r r ' s voiceover n a r r a t i o n , as J o h n
H e l l m a n n has r e m a r k e d , s e e m s to e m u l a t e the style o f R a y m o n d C h a n d l e r
( 1 9 8 6 : 1 9 1 ) ) ; the travel/adventure film (the e x p e d i t i o n u p the r i v e r ) — i n
this context p e r h a p s a k i n d o f p r i m o r d i a l inversion o f the r o a d m o v i e ; a n d ,
finally,
the psychological d r a m a (the speculative e x p l o r a t i o n o f the
fractured psyches o f b o t h W i l l a r d a n d K u r t z ) . In a d d i t i o n , C o p p o l a also
alludes to the W e s t e r n ; the c i r c u m s t a n c e s in w h i c h W i l l a r d is a s s i g n e d his
m i s s i o n are r e m i n i s c e n t o f t h o s e seen in countless W e s t e r n s in w h i c h an
p s y c h o d r a m a , travel
war
film,3
noir,
film—Apocalypse
4
3
Gilbert Adair, interestingly, has called attention to the fact Apocalypse Now "bears little
resemblance... [to] the traditional war movie" (1981: 148).
4
Hellmann partly builds on Veronica Geng's observation in the New Yorker that
"Willard talks in the easy ironies, the sin-city similes, the weary, laconic, why-am-I-evenbothering-to-tell-you language of the pulp private eye" (1979: 70). This interpretation is
supported by Storaro's camera's itemization in the film's opening scene of objects often
associated with the hardboiled genre, like the bottle of liquor, the revolver, the cigarette
dangling Humphrey Bogart-style from Willard's lips. Then there is the fact that the name
of Chandler's most famous protagonist is almost identical to that of Conrad's narrator in
Heart of Darkness.
124
Asbjørn Grønstad
a p p r e h e n s i v e c o m m u n i t y talks the d r u n k e n a n d d i s i l l u s i o n e d g u n f l g h t e r
i n t o t a k i n g o n o n e last j o b in o r d e r to save the t o w n s h i p f r o m the t h u g s
w h o c o n t r o l it. Apocalypse
Now
also a b o u n d s w i t h i c o n o g r a p h i c debris
from the Western, an obvious example o f which would be the cowboysa n d - I n d i a n s regalia in the " S u z i e Q" s e q u e n c e .
L a s t b u t n o t least, the film m a y also b e a p p r o a c h e d as a m o d e r n - d a y
r e w o r k i n g o f o n e o f the oldest o f A m e r i c a n textual genres, t h e late 1 7 *
c e n t u r y captivity narrative. T h i s is a structural affinity that, as far as I a m
a w a r e , h a s n o t been explicitly i n v o k e d a n y w h e r e in t h e extensive s e c o n d a r y
literature o n the film. L i k e the 1 7 * c e n t u r y f r o n t i e r s m a n , b o t h K u r t z a n d
W i l l a r d leave their families ( a n d "civilization") b e h i n d to v e n t u r e i n t o the
wilderness,
which
according
to
Puritan
philosophy
was
seen
m a t e r i a l i z a t i o n o f the t o p o g r a p h y o f m e t a p h y s i c a l hell ( S l o t k i n
as
a
1973:
1 0 9 ) . K u r t z ' s d e s c e n t into m a d n e s s evidently entails a t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f
self that recalls facets o f the c o n v e r s i o n narratives: t h e s u s p e n s i o n o f all
principles related to C h r i s t i a n m o r a l i t y , the a d o p t i o n o f the i n h u m a n laws
o f the wilderness, the c o m p l e t e a b a n d o n m e n t o f civilization, a n d
the
horrifying reinvention o f o n e s e l f as " a beast, a wilderness t h i n g , " to cite
Richard
Slotkin's
Indianization
characterization
(1973:
of Mary
Rowlandson's
1 1 0 ) . A l t h o u g h in Apocalypse
Now
process
of
K u r t z is the
c a p t o r rather t h a n the captive, h e still s e e m s to b e enslaved b y the a n a r c h i c
forces o f the savage wilderness. After all, the film o p e n s with an o m i n o u s
i m a g e t h a t literalizes that "wilderness o f p a i n " w h i c h J i m M o r r i s o n s i n g s
a b o u t o n the accompanying
s o u n d t r a c k . T h i s is a n i m a g e to
which
c o m p l e x relationships a c c r u e as w e c o m e to learn that these visions m a y b e
t h e p r o j e c t i o n s o f W i l l a r d ' s m i n d s c r e e n , to use B r u c e K a w i n ' s t e r m ( 2 0 0 0 :
7 9 ) . A t a n y rate, the s u b t e x t o f the captivity narrative in Apocalypse
a s u b j e c t w h i c h deserves to b e e x a m i n e d m o r e extensively
Now is
elsewhere.
Particularly exciting in that respect is the i n t i m a t i o n o f a c o n n e c t i o n
b e t w e e n P u r i t a n m y t h o g r a p h y a n d its e m p h a s i s o n regeneration o n the
o n e h a n d w i t h Apocalypse
Now's
inscription o f the l e g e n d o f the Fisher
K i n g on the other.6
Although he does not use the term, John Hellmann seems to allude to the genre of the
captivity tales when he interprets Kurtz's deflection as an escape from the decadence of
American society comparable to the "mythic journey by which the Western hero
continually regenerated the American identity" (1986: 196).
6
A critic like Karl French, for example, sees the Fisher King narrative as "the defining
myth" of the film (1998: 78).
5
125
C o p p o l a ' s Exhausted Eschatology: Apocalypse Now Reconsideted
T h i s expressionistic internalization o f the horrors o f war with which
Apocalypse Now begins situates the narrative o n t h e t h r e s h o l d o f history
a n d allegory. T h e self-consciously surreal scene b y the D u L o n g bridge, for
e x a m p l e , a p p e a r s to allegorize the a b s e n c e o f military leadership in
V i e t n a m ( T o m a s u l o 1 9 9 0 : 1 5 1 ) . O c c u p y i n g an i n d e t e r m i n a t e , liminal
textual s p a c e w h i c h at o n c e flows a w a y f r o m a n d b a c k into history, the
film creates an oscillatory historical c o n t e x t that is c o n t i n u o u s l y
s u p e r s e d e d b y intertextuality, m y t h , a n d the w o r k o f semiosis. D e s p i t e its
occasional i m m e r s i o n in pyrotechnics, Apocalypse Now is a strangely
introspective m o v i e , o n e that s e e m s m o r e c o n t e n t with e x p l o r i n g the
n a t u r e o f the u n h i n g e d m i n d — a l o n g with the s e d i m e n t a t i o n o f cultural
m e m o r y in the f o r m o f q u o t a t i o n — t h a n in elaborating o n the m a n y
references to the V i e t n a m war w h i c h overlay the narrative. T h r o u g h o u t
t h e film o n e gets a sense that the V i e t n a m setting merely provides a
g e o g r a p h i c a l a n d c o n c e p t u a l b a c k d r o p for an e x a m i n a t i o n o f other issues.
I n this sense Apocalypse Now is n o m o r e a b o u t V i e t n a m t h a n T e r e n c e
M a l i c k ' s The Thin Red Line ( 1 9 9 8 ) is a b o u t the s e c o n d w o r l d war.
C o p p o l a ' s failure p r o p e r l y to address the war experience is a c c o r d i n g to
A l b e r t A u s t e r a n d L e o n a r d Quart d u e to the fact that the film
"universalizes a n d abstracts the war b y m a k i n g its terror p a r t o f the h u m a n
c o n d i t i o n rather t h a n a result o f specific social a n d political forces" ( 1 9 8 8 :
7 0 ) . W h i l e it is evident that s e q u e n c e s s u c h as the o n e in w h i c h W i l l a r d
m u r d e r s t h e V i e t n a m e s e w o m a n o n the b o a t resonate w i t h historical
a s s o c i a t i o n (in this case to the M y Lai m a s s a c r e ) , (See Jeffrey C h o w n
1 9 8 8 : 1 3 8 ) , they nevertheless seem parenthetical, narratively s p e a k i n g ,
w i t h i n t h e c o n t e x t o f the allegorical f r a m e w o r k o f the film as a w h o l e . In
a n y event, whatever historical saliency these references p o s s e s s is easily
dwarfed by the m o r e resolutely surreal a n d m e t a p h y s i c a l final p a r t a n d b y
t h e s h a d o w y a p p e a r a n c e o f the figure o f K u r t z in particular. T h o u g h I
c a n n o t e n d o r s e F r a n k P. T o m a s u l o ' s definition o f the film as "ahistorical,"
his c l a i m t h a t Apocalypse Now " e l i d e d the specificity o f its historical
m o m e n t " b y " s e e k i n g timeless a n d universal T r u t h s a b o u t t h e H u m a n
C o n d i t i o n " is b y far a m o r e c o n v i n c i n g r e a d i n g o f the film t h a n t h o s e
w h i c h f o r e g r o u n d its historical e m b e d d e d n e s s ( 1 9 9 0 : 1 5 4 ) . T h e a p p a r e n t
7
7
At stake in those readings which do in fact assume that Apocalypse Now is "about"
Vietnam is, quite evidendy, the question of the film's position vis-å-vis the conflict. While
critics like Jakob Lothe consider the film to be both a critique of American warfare in
Vietnam and "a fictional statement on... the human psyche" (2000: 178), Tomasulo
(despite elsewhere labeling the movie "ahistorical") proffers a more critical reading that
126
Asbjørn Grønstad
e a s e with w h i c h t h e
filmmaker
has t r a n s p o s e d J o s e p h C o n r a d ' s
Congo
i n t o A m e r i c a ' s V i e t n a m / C a m b o d i a a d d s credibility to this assertion.
T h a t C o p p o l a ' s V i e t n a m represents a setting m o r e s y m b o l i c than real
w a s a d i m e n s i o n critics also s o o n p i c k e d u p o n . R e v i e w i n g the film for the
Atlantic in D e c e m b e r 1 9 7 9 , W a r d J u s t p a n n e d it for its failure t o reflect or
p o r t r a y the war in realistic t e r m s : " I a m p u z z l e d a n d a p p a l l e d , " he writes,
" a t the n e e d for i n v e n t i n g a m e t a p h o r for t h e V i e t n a m w a r " ( 1 9 7 9 : 6 3 ) .
D o e s T o m a s u l o ' s a r g u m e n t t h a t the director " t u r n e d t h e real-life
specificity o f U . S. i m p e r i a l i s m into a n abstract a n d p h i l o s o p h i c a l
c i n e m a t i c m e d i t a t i o n o n g o o d a n d evil" then c o n s t i t u t e a feasible
a s s e s s m e n t o f the film ( 1 9 9 0 : 1 4 7 ) ? I w o u l d s u b m i t that his thesis b o t h
o v e r e m p h a s i z e s t h e m e t a p h y s i c a l aspect a n d u n d u l y d o w n p l a y s the film's
historical i m p o r t . T h e crucial q u e s t i o n , as I see it, is n o t whether
Apocalypse Now e n g a g e s w i t h history b u t rather h o w it d o e s it. It s e e m s
i n d i s p u t a b l e , however, that C o p p o l a has failed to m a k e a m o v i e that in
a n y m e a n i n g f u l w a y can b e said to b e a reflection o f h i s t o r y in t h e m i m e t i c
sense. Yet this is a film w h i c h is h i g h l y c o g n i z a n t o f historical issues, a n d
specifically o f history as a textual process. S o m e scenes in Apocalypse
Now
in fact c o m e across as a critique o f the p o p u l a r m e d i a ' s a p p r o p r i a t i o n o f
historical imagery. T h e " S u z i e Q" m o m e n t , for i n s t a n c e , collates a r a n g e
o f fragments o f d i s p a r a t e cultural p h e n o m e n a into o n e c o m m a n d i n g
t r o p e : the western-style outfits w h i c h t h e p l a y m a t e s w e a r s u g g e s t b o t h the
history o f frontier atrocity a n d i m p e r i a l i s m a n d H o l l y w o o d ' s rather l o o s e
r e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f that history; this s u g g e s t i o n in turn establishes a
rhetorical a n a l o g y between the I n d i a n g e n o c i d e a n d V i e t n a m (a
c o m p a r i s o n a c c e n t u a t e d b y cut-aways to the V i e t n a m e s e t h r o n g s e p a r a t e d
f r o m the soldiers b y a fence, a spatial relationship w h i c h further c o n n o t e s
8
suggests that Apocalypse Now is "filled with double binds and mixed messages in its attempt
to have it both ways" (1990: 153). According to Tomasulo, it is this moral vacillation
which renders the film apolitical. "It is tantamount to ethical 'fence-sitting'," he maintains,
"to suggest that the political and combat realities of an illegal and imperialist war can be
incorporated into a vague philosophical unity of opposites" (1990: 154). More a prowar
than an antiwar narrative, Tomasulo asserts that Coppola "might be saying that had
Americans made war with the passion of Colonel Kilgore, the cool of Captain Willard, and
the brutal honesty of Colonel Kurtz, the United States would have won" (1990: 149).
8
The tone of Just's criticism was to some extent symptomatic of the critical reception of
the film; the reviewers attacked the film for its costly production, for its autobiographical
dimension, and for being politically conservative (Lewis 1995: 170). In
Overexposure,
David Thomsen alleged that the film was "as conservative as Birth of a Nation" (1981:
312).
127
C o p p o l a ' s Exhausted Eschatology: Apocalypse Now Reconsidered
A m e r i c a n reservation p o l i c y ) ; the s e q u e n c e features several reaction shots
w h i c h p r e s e n t the soldiers' e u p h o r i c r e s p o n s e to a diversion w h i c h brings
t o g e t h e r the twin legacies o f m i s o g y n y a n d racialism; a n d , finally, the
showbiz
factor
that
permeates
the
entire
sequence
testifies
to
the
significance o f history as spectacle in the A m e r i c a n c o n s c i o u s n e s s . T h e
p e r f o r m a n c e o f ersatz history in the " S u z i e Q"
s e g m e n t thus b e c o m e s a
truly c i n e m a t i c rethinking o f the p a s t as it i m p i n g e s u p o n the present.
I h a v e c h o s e n to delineate the logistics o f this scene in such detail
b e c a u s e it pertinently illustrates the i m p o r t a n c e o f t h e l o o k as far as the
relationship
between
filmicity
and
historiography
is c o n c e r n e d .
The
n u m e r o u s reaction shots o f the c r o w d c h e e r i n g a n d l o o k i n g offer a visual
s h o r t h a n d for t h e w a y in w h i c h the spectator's gaze b o t h inscribes a n d is
inscribed b y the c o n t i n g e n c i e s o f textualized history. A n y d i s c u s s i o n o f a
film's
historical c o n t e x t s h o u l d at the very least be aware o f the instability
o f the process o f l o o k i n g a n d o f the i m p o s s i b i l i t y o f an ahistorical gaze.
H e n c e , it is n o t necessarily the film that s h o u l d b e the p r i m a r y o b j e c t o f
historicization b u t rather the l o o k itself, sited as it m a y be in the exigencies
o f the historical m o m e n t .
T h e p r o b l e m o f sight as it encroaches u p o n the h e r m e n e u t i c a l task
b r i n g s m e to that profusely d e b a t e d issue o f the relation between C o n r a d ' s
novella a n d C o p p o l a ' s film. H o w the film b o t h differs f r o m a n d is similar
t o the novella has b e e n painstakingly m a p p e d o u t elsewhere, a n d I will n o t
p r e t e n d to b e interested in rehashing t h e m i n u t i a e o f this w o r k here. W h a t
c o n c e r n s m e m o r e is the c o n c e p t u a l link between the t w o texts. A l t h o u g h
I
do
not
believe
that
an
analysis
o f Apocalypse
Now
requires
an
( u n h y p h e n a t e d ) pretext, literary or otherwise, there c a n b e n o d o u b t that
t h e eccentricity o f the c o n n e c t i o n between C o n r a d a n d C o p p o l a p r o v o k e s
a
peculiar
fascination.
Jean-Pierre C o u r s o d o n
o n c e characterized
c i n e m a o f A r t h u r P e n n as " c o n s c i o u s n e s s s t r u g g l i n g to e m e r g e
the
from
d a r k n e s s " ( 1 9 8 3 : 2 6 4 ) . It is t e m p t i n g — a n d a g a i n w e are o p e r a t i n g o n a
purely
conceptual
elucidation
level—to
read
Apocalypse
Now
as
a
cinematic
o f the d a r k n e s s o f its literary s o u r c e . C o n r a d , w h o
first
Magazine
in
1 8 9 9 , after all referred to C o n g o as " t h e t h r e s h o l d o f t h e invisible" ( 1 9 6 9 :
5 9 3 ) . In a n article o n H e r b e r t L a n g ' s C o n g o p h o t o g r a p h s , m o r e o v e r ,
N i c h o l a s M i r z o e f f writes that t h e e n c o u n t e r w i t h the heart o f d a r k n e s s w a s
" a visual p r o b l e m f r o m the o u t s e t " ( 1 9 9 8 : 1 7 2 ) . V i s i o n , o f c o u r s e , often
functions as a m e t a p h o r for p e r c e p t i o n o n an intellectual level, insight in
short (consider for instance the e t y m o l o g y o f t h e t e r m " t h e o r y " ) , a n d it is
p u b l i s h e d t h e story in the appositely entitled Blackwood's
128
Asbjørn Grønstad
t h e i m p l i c a t i o n s o f this m e t a p h o r for o u r r e a d i n g o f C o p p o l a ' s text a n d its
relation to its p r e c u r s o r text t h a t m i g h t b e further delved i n t o .
The
significance o f the act o f l o o k i n g s e e m s to b e overtly t h e m a t i z e d near the
e n d of Apocalypse
Now, m o r e specifically in t h e s c e n e w h e r e W i l l a r d ' s crew
is a p p r o a c h i n g K u r t z ' s m i a s m i c village t h r o u g h an i m p e n e t r a b l e fog. " D o
y o u see a n y t h i n g , C h e f ? , " C h i e f s h o u t s shortly b e f o r e he is killed b y a
spear. W h e n W i l l a r d is finally i n t r o d u c e d to K u r t z , the colonel's face is
e n g u l f e d in s h a d o w s . T h e m a n s e e m s to b e g r a d u a l l y e m e r g i n g
from
d a r k n e s s , j u s t as C o p p o l a is g r a d u a l l y r e c u p e r a t i n g C o n r a d ' s vision. T h i s
repossessive m e t h o d represents p e r h a p s a n act o f w h a t V i t t o r i o S t o r a r e —
C o p p o l a ' s c i n e m a t o g r a p h e r f a m o u s for his c o l l a b o r a t i o n with B e r n a r d o
B e r t o l u c c i a n d C a r l o s S a u r a — c a l l s writing
with light (which is also the
more
u r g e n t o b j e c t o f r e c u p e r a t i o n for C o p p o l a ' s film m a y be O r s o n Welles's
a b o r t e d p r o j e c t Heart of Darkness f r o m 1 9 4 0 . Apocalypse Now s e e m s to b e
h a u n t e d b y the film that w a s never m a d e a n d b y t h e c o n c e i v a b l e
p e r m u t a t i o n in Welles's m i n d o f t h e figures o f C i t i z e n K a n e a n d C i t i z e n
K u r t z . (See also Elsaesser a n d W e d e l 1 9 9 7 : 1 5 1 ) .
title o f his recent b o o k o n c i n e m a t o g r a p h y ) . H o w e v e r , a n even
9
T h e r e is litde justification for considering Apocalypse
Now to b e an
of Darkness as the
basis for the film occurs in its n o m i n a t i o n for B e s t Screenplay b a s e d o n
material f r o m another m e d i u m at the A c a d e m y A w a r d s (French 1 9 9 8 : 4 ) .
H o w d o w e explain this act o f omission? W h y has C o p p o l a suppressed this
literary pre-text? T h r o u g h o u t c i n e m a history there h a v e been q u i t e a few
instances in which a literary source has in fact been a c k n o w l e d g e d even
w h e n the film exhibits n o tangible traces o f its alleged precursor. A case in
p o i n t w o u l d b e C a r l T h e o d o r Dreyer's Leaves From Satan's Book ( 1 9 1 9 ) ,
which has litde to d o with M a r i e Corelli's Sorrows Of Satan. A c c o r d i n g to
M i k h a i l I a m p o l s k i , this k i n d o f m i s q u o t i n g transpires w h e n a text willfully
represses its source: "Intertextuality... works n o t o n l y to establish precursors
b u t also to d e n y t h e m " ( 1 9 9 8 : 7 9 ) . I a m p o l s k i ' s Bloomian-inflected theory is
particularly a p p r o p r i a t e for a reading o f Apocalypse Now in that the
a d a p t a t i o n . In fact, the o n l y official recognition o f Heart
Welles first adapted Conrad's story as a radio production for his Mercury Company.
When he later came to Hollywood, Welles intended to make a movie in which he both
directed and played the roles of Marlow and Kurtz. Unfortunately, due to financial
difficulties, Welles ultimately had to abandon the project (French 1998: 99). For further
insights into Welles's radio version of Heart of Darkness, see Robert Spadoni, "The Seeing
Ear: The Presence of Radio in Orson Welles's Heart of Darkness," Conrad on Film, Ed.
Gene M. Moore, Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997, 78-92.
9
129
C o p p o l a ' s Exhausted Eschatology: Apocalypse Now Reconsidered
mechanism
of
textual
repression
and
replacement
finds
a
diegetic
counterpart in the relationship between Willard a n d Kurtz. Significantly,
the text represses even this " d e g r a d a t i o n o f the father" m o t i f (Elsaesser a n d
W e d e l 1 9 9 7 : 1 5 7 ) , for instance in that the part o f the film's signature s o n g
in which J i m M o r r i s o n gives full vent to his O e d i p a l ravings is o m i t t e d .
T h e reason for C o p p o l a ' s repression o f C o n r a d ' s novella, I w o u l d
s u r m i s e , m i g h t b e c o m e clear if w e bear in m i n d that Apocalypse
Now
selfm y t h o l o g i z a t i o n . A s Karl F r e n c h p o i n t s o u t , this was a film that was
" d e s i g n e d as a m o d e r n m y t h " a n d " g r a n t e d near-mythical status even in its
m a k i n g , l o n g before a n y o n e h a d seen it" ( 1 9 9 8 : 9 6 ) . T h e film's selfreflexive, m e t a c i n e m a t i c quality is also m a d e manifest b y C o p p o l a ' s c a m e o
w h e r e h e tells W i l l a r d " D o n ' t l o o k at the c a m e r a . J u s t g o b y as if y o u ' r e
fighting,"
a rhetorical m a n e u v e r later referenced b y S t a n l e y K u b r i c k in his
c o n s i d e r a b l y m o r e a u d a c i o u s l y anti-war film Full Metal Jacket ( 1 9 8 7 ) . A s a
m a t t e r o f fact, the p r o d u c t i o n history o f Apocalypse Now c o m p e t e s with
t h e film's story itself w h e n it c o m e s to m a d n e s s a n d excess, a n d the
finished
m o v i e is less a reflection o f historical events t h a n o f the
a s p i r a t i o n s a n d c o n d i t i o n s o f its o w n m a k i n g . "I t h o u g h t I w a s m a k i n g a
w a r f i l m , " the director told C h a r l e s M i c h e n e r in an interview in
Newsweek, " a n d it d e v e l o p e d that the film was m a k i n g m e " ( 1 9 7 9 : 1 0 1 ) .
F r a u g h t with a h u b r i s a n d a singularity o f vision n o a d a p t a t i o n can
s u s t a i n , the film has to s u p p r e s s its s o u r c e material s o as n o t to a p p e a r
derivative. H o w e v e r , as far as intertextuality is c o n c e r n e d , C o n r a d ' s text is
j u s t the tip o f the iceberg.
stands
as
perhaps
cinema's
most
unashamedly
obvious
act
of
10
A g a i n w a t c h i n g the o p e n i n g s e q u e n c e o f Apocalypse
Now, listening to
J i m M o r r i s o n i n t o n e the w o r d s " T h i s is the e n d , " I c a n n o t help b u t b e
r e m i n d e d o f another illustrious e n d , that o f J e a n - L u c G o d a r d a n n o u n c i n g
t h e " e n d o f c i n e m a " in Weekend ( 1 9 6 7 ) .
A n d it then o c c u r s to m e that
this c a t a c l y s m i c preface to C o p p o l a ' s film m a y b e t h o u g h t o f as a narrative
e n a c t m e n t o f G o d a r d ' s p r o c l a m a t i o n . A m o v i e that f r o m its i n c e p t i o n was
i n t e n d e d as c i n e m a ' s m o s t extravagant s t a t e m e n t , Apocalypse
Now sets o u t
t o t r a n s c e n d c i n e m a t i c history b y obliterating its influences. T h e series o f
10
One may note that for Auster and Quart, it is this interference of the filmmaker's
"personal quest" that "clouds the connection between Apocalypse Now and the Vietnam
experience" that the film purportedly aimed to depict (1988: 70).
" As Lothe has pointed out, the scene which inaugurates the narrative of Apocalypse
invokes both a "prologue and [an] epilogue at the same time" (2002: 50).
130
Now
Asbjørn Grønstad
superimpositions
with
which
the
narrative s t a r t s — t h e
jungle
ablaze,
W i l l a r d ' s face, the r o t a t i n g f a n — g e s t u r e s t o w a r d t h e film's p a l i m p s e s t i c
aesthetic. Apocalypse
Now
is o f c o u r s e n o t h i n g if n o t a d e n s e l y t h o u g h
elusively allusive film, a n d apart f r o m t h e m o r e p a l p a b l e references to
C o n r a d , E l i o t , Frazer, W e s t o n , a n d the B o o k o f R e v e l a t i o n , there is a
m u n i f i c e n t spillover o f evocative a n d h a u n t i n g traces f r o m other texts. I
p r o p o s e the t e r m liquidfigurality
for this spillover function.
E d u c a t e d at H o f s t r a U n i v e r s i t y a n d U C L A , C o p p o l a b e l o n g e d to the
first g e n e r a t i o n o f f i l m m a k e r s that were movie-literate in a m o r e a c a d e m i c
sense, a c i r c u m s t a n c e w h i c h to s o m e extent a c c o u n t s for his " p e n c h a n t for
a l l u s i o n i s m " ( T o m a s u l o 1 9 9 0 : 1 5 6 ) . 1 2 T h a t t h e director m u s t h a v e been
s o m e w h a t conflicted in his a p p r o a c h to his o w n w o r k m a y b e e v i d e n c e d in
t w o largely c o n t r a d i c t o r y s t a t e m e n t s that h e m a d e a r o u n d t h e t i m e o f the
film's
release.
At
the
Cannes
press
conference,
he
declared
rather
p r e t e n t i o u s l y that " M y film is n o t a m o v i e . M y film is n o t a b o u t V i e t n a m .
It is V i e t n a m "
(French
1 9 9 8 : 2 4 , e m p h a s i s in original). B u t in an
Stone t h e s a m e year, he t o l d reporter G r e i l M a r c u s
that "style was g o i n g to b e t h e w h o l e m o v i e " ( 1 9 7 9 : 5 5 ) . T h e r e s e e m s to
b e a n i n h e r e n t a n t a g o n i s m here between t w o different c o n c e p t i o n s o f the
film, o n e w h i c h stresses its "hyper-reality," the o t h e r e m p h a s i z i n g its
aestheticism. It is the latter that ultimately prevails.
interview w i t h Rolling
Some
critics
have
argued
that
Apocalypse
Now
epitomizes
" H o l l y w o o d ' s a t t e m p t to recover its p o s i t i o n as a p r e e m i n e n t m y t h m a k e r
in A m e r i c a n c u l t u r e " (Auster a n d Q u a r t 1 9 8 8 : 7 1 ) . A s I h a v e i n d i c a t e d
elsewhere, m a k i n g sense o f individual films b y a p p l y i n g
mythological
registers m a y b e a rather h a z a r d o u s a n d even m e t h o d o l o g i c a l l y u n s o u n d
a p p r o a c h w h i c h t e n d s to c o u r t an i r k s o m e d i s r e g a r d for textual specificity
a n d for t h e material s e n s u o u s n e s s o f t h e filmic i m a g e . B e c a u s e it is
helplessly
postmodernist
first, Apocalypse
Now
cannot
be
but
post-
m y t h o l o g i c a l also. P e r h a p s there is a n irrepressible t e n s i o n here, b e t w e e n
o n t h e o n e h a n d t h e film's a m b i t i o n actually to b e , o x y m o r o n i c a l l y , a
p o s t m o d e r n m y t h (hence its repression o f m a n y o f its s o u r c e s ) , a n d o n t h e
o t h e r its often inadvertent yet e n d e m i c a l l u s i o n i s m (or w h a t I h a v e j u s t
referred to as l i q u i d figurality). Apocalypse Now signals n o t o n l y t h e d e m i s e
of
a
coherent
mythology,
but,
more
importantly,
the
end
of
the
t e m p o r a l i t y o f texts, to m o d i f y slightly the title o f F r e d r i c J a m e s o n ' s recent
12
In Tomasulo's view, it is precisely this inclination toward citation which is seen as
responsible to the "depoliticization" of the Vietnam conflict in the movie (1990: 156).
131
Coppola's Exhausted Eschatology: Apocalypse Now Reconsidered
article in Critical
Inquiry.
B y synthesizing canonical a n d c o n t e m p o r a r y
texts, b y t u r n i n g textual c h r o n o l o g y i n t o discursive spatiality, the film
reconfigures c i n e m a ' s relations with genre, history, a n d its literary origins.
T h e overall effect m i g h t b e s o m e t h i n g a n a l o g o u s to w h a t J a m e s o n refers to
as " t h e r e d u c t i o n to the p r e s e n t " ( 2 0 0 3 : 7 1 7 ) .
Quite
evidendy,
then,
Apocalypse
Now
is
a
semiotically
o v e r d e t e r m i n e d film, w i t h all the possible repercussions this m a y have for
t h e m o d e s o f spectatorship. In their analysis o f the s o n i c textures
of
C o p p o l a ' s m o v i e , T h o m a s Elsaesser a n d M i c h a e l W e d e l call a t t e n t i o n to a
similar issue in the following passage:
Through the jungle of discourses that constitute its textual form,
from the biographical to the technological, from the aesthetic
to the political, its textual density seems if anything to have become
more 'substantial' as time goes by, without thereby becoming
either more realistic or more fantastic, but demanding a different
'ontology of the filmic image,' which is to say, a different spectator
(1997: 172)
T h i s is a spectator w h o in her r e a d i n g will h a v e to a c c o m m o d a t e the
prerequisites o f a l i q u i d figurality, w h o will have to be as aware o f the
film's references to m o v i e history as o f those to G r e e k m y t h o l o g y .
It
certainly is significant that W i l l a r d ' s P B R is n a m e d Erebus, after the G r e e k
son
of Chaos
and
brother o f N i g h t , a n d that he is m e n t i o n e d in
Caesar, a n d in turn that this play is a k e y s o u r c e for
E l i o t ' s p o e m " T h e H o l l o w M e n , " parts o f which are indistinctly recited b y
B r a n d o ' s K u r t z at the e n d o f the film. E r e b u s is o f c o u r s e also m e n t i o n e d
in Virgil's The Aeneid, w h i c h C o p p o l a ' s original scriptwriter J o h n M i l i u s
h a s cited as his m a i n inspiration for the story. B u t , it is equally significant
t h a t the idea o f u s i n g R i c h a r d W a g n e r ' s " T h e R i d e o f t h e V a l k y r i e s " is
lifted f r o m D . W . Griffith's Birth of a Nation ( 1 9 1 5 ) , that t h e s e q u e n c e in
w h i c h K u r t z is killed a n d the water buffalo sacrificed b o r r o w s n o t o n l y
f r o m C o p p o l a ' s o w n The Godfather ( 1 9 7 2 ) b u t , m o r e p r o m i n e n t l y , f r o m
Sergei Eisenstein's Strike ( 1 9 2 5 ; a n d see C h o w n 1 9 8 8 : 1 4 5 ) , a n d that the
p h o t o g r a p h o f K u r t z that W i l l a r d keeps l o o k i n g at o n the b o a t is actually
t h e W e l d o n P e n d e r t o n character played b y B r a n d o in J o h n H u s t o n ' s
Reflections in a Golden Eye ( 1 9 6 7 ) .
S h a k e s p e a r e ' s Julius
132
Asbjørn Grønstad
A s a filmic art object, Apocalypse
Now is a s u p r e m e instance o f w h a t
a text that u p o n further scrutiny
discloses "diverse discursive layers" ( 1 9 9 2 : 1 0 , e m p h a s i s o n original). T h e s e
layers, or w h a t I w o u l d call a textual spillover, are also operative o n the level
o f characterization, s u p e r i m p o s e d as they are o n the character o f Willard,
t u r n i n g h i m into C o p p o l a ' s o w n " h o l l o w m a n . " A c c o r d i n g to M i l i u s ,
W i l l a r d is A d a m , Faust, D a n t e , Aeneas, H u c k l e b e r r y F i n n , J e s u s , the
A n c i e n t M a r i n e r , A h a b , O d y s s e u s , a n d O e d i p u s ( T h o m p s o n 1 9 7 6 : 15).
A n d the list c o u l d g o on. I f it h a d n o t been for the "with-special-referencet o " clause o f this assigned topic, I w o u l d have gravitated m o r e t o w a r d the
specifically A m e r i c a n intertextual figurations in Apocalypse Now, figurations
that I w o u l d claim are j u s t a s — i f n o t m o r e — s a l i e n t for a c o n t e m p o r a r y
reading o f the film. A n entire p a p e r c o u l d have been written o n M a r t i n
S h e e n ' s inexpressive p e r f o r m a n c e o f the J a m e s D e a n p e r s o n a from Rebel
Without a Cause ( N i c h o l a s R a y 1 9 5 5 ) . Badlands, T e r e n c e M a l i c k ' s austere
1 9 7 3 d r a m a t i z a t i o n o f the Starkweather killings, seems to be another
t e m p l a t e for Sheen's Willard. Likewise, articles c o u l d b e written o n the
californification o f the V i e t n a m war in Apocalypse Now (the references to
s u r f culture, drug-taking, the rock m u s i c o f b a n d s like the B e a c h B o y s , T h e
D o o r s , C h a r l e s M a n s o n , R a y m o n d C h a n d l e r , D i s n e y l a n d , a n d so o n ) , as
well as o n the Wizard-ofOz-like
trajectory o f the film's narrative. (See
F r e n c h 1 9 9 8 : 2 3 9 ) . M o r e o v e r , I s u p p o s e I a m n o t the only o n e w h o notices
that the t r a n s f o r m e d W i l l a r d w h o monolithically emerges after having killed
K u r t z bears a faint yet disturbing narrative r e s e m b l a n c e to K u b r i c k ' s Star
C h i l d at the e n d o f 2 0 0 1 ™ A n d c o u l d it not b e a r g u e d that " t h e horror! the
horror!" that Eliot at o n e p o i n t considered as an e p i g r a p h for The Waste
Land seems s o m e h o w obliquely evocative o f that unbearable whiteness o f
Melville's whale? Perhaps.
R i c k A l t m a n terms a "scarredpalimpsest"
13
University
of Bergen
13
There is already some precedence for considering Sheen's stylized acting in the film as a
derivation from Dean's Jim Stark in Ray's movie. See Hellmann (1986: 191) and French
(1998: 109).
14
More explicitly, Apocalypse Now also alludes to a host of other films, notable among
which is David Lean's Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia (1957, 1962), Dr.
Strangelove, another Kubrick film (1964), Deliverance
(John Boorman 1972), Aguirre: The
Wrath of God (Werner Herzog 1973), and Nashville (Robert Altman 1975).
133
C o p p o l a ' s Exhausted Eschatology: Apocalypse Now Reconsidered
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