Apocalypse Now was released in 1979 and was directed by Francis Ford Coppola. This story is set in the Vietnam War 1969. US Army Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) is sent on a highly secretive mission to assassinate a fellow American renegade Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando). This film won two Oscars including Best Cinematography and received another six Oscar nominations.
Storaro the cinematographer of Apocalypse Now has won three Oscars for best cinematography, which include The Last Emperor (1987), Reds (1981) and Apocalypse Now (1979). He has another 28 wins and 17 nominations, which include a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Cinematographers (A.S.C). He is also a member of the Italian Society of Cinematographers (A.I.C.)
Apocalypse Now was Storaro’s first mainstream American studio film and also his first of three collaborations with Francis Ford Coppola.
Waiting in Saigon is the first scene in Apocalypse Now. We are introduced to Captain Willard, played by Martin Sheen, waiting in a hotel room. Separated from reality, Willard, in a drunken and insane state waits for his mission.
In this film Coppola tackles the hypocrisy of western imperialism in the Vietnam War. Instead of helping innocent civilians, the American’s are seen to be running riot, bombing villages and destroying everything in sight. The film however, focuses more on war and its psychological effects and in this scenario a man darkening beyond recognition.
Storaro seems to use dark shadows and minimal light along with sepia tones and unearthly colour in Apocalypse Now, which gives the film a dark tone. Set in Saigon the temperature reflects the lighting and throughout the scene there is a yellowish cast, which informs us the film, is set in a hot country.
When we first see Willard he is alone, unsuitable for civilized society and we are caught in his thoughts and satanic nightmares. The frame is a close up of his face upside down, which gives a feeling of intimacy and distortion. Throughout most of the scene we have a close view on Willard, who in a sense, allows the viewer to almost become Willard and identify with him and his thoughts as Walter Murch explains, “he’s the eyes and ears through which the audience sees and hears this war.” We naturally look from top to bottom of the screen and so would expect to see his eyes instead of his mouth but this frame immediately suggests that there is something odd and strange about this character. Willard seems suspended in some sort of purgatory. His eyes, 'the windows of his soul', are glancing around the frame and Willard is deep in thought. We can see he is not at peace; he can't stop thinking of the horrors of war on a previous mission. We know he is thinking of this because of the cross fade where there are explosions demolishing peaceful palm trees and army helicopters flying in and out of frame. Images of fire and flames swarm in and out of his head giving us a feeling of the torture of horrendous memories and rage. We do not know if this is the past, the present or the future. I suspect that this is a merge of the past with the future as there are shots from future scenes.
In the next few shots we realize that Willard is lying on a bed smoking. The camera slowly rotates above his head spiralling through his thoughts, giving us a feeling of a strange, drugged relaxation state. The shot then shows us Willard's point of view where there is a fan with black blades that motor around on the ceiling that imitate the sound of helicopter blades which triggers more unforgettable thoughts. There is a shot that pans across from the bedside table where lie letters and a photograph of his wife or loved one. The way the frame is positioned suggests that this is at the back of his mind. It is later revealed that Willard accepted his wife's divorce and the frame in which Willard lifts the photo of his wife and singes her face implies that although he accepted the divorce, Willard was burning with bitterness and hatred. This adds to his agonizing torture that revolves in his head.
Close up, Willard looks out the window to see where he is. The venetian blinds used in the shot gives a ‘closed behind bars’ look as outside is bright and sunny where as inside is dark and claustrophobic. Willard peers though, lifting the blind slightly showing us that he is mentally trapped in this dark room, waiting.
The walls close in on him and Willard has mentally collapsed. Removed from the outside world, Willard is stuck in this awful trance like state with his painstaking memories. He is crouched with his fears and thoughts surrounding and looking down on him. The shadows on this frame are haunting, with his back to the light, he looks far from salvation.
This frame shows the evil, darker side of Willard. Light falls onto one side of his face. He is positioned in the left side of frame
as he looks directly into camera. Murch explains that, “There is a rule that you never allow anyone to look into the camera unless you want to ‘break the frame.’” I suppose that this frame gives us an eerie feeling, hitting home that Willard is seemingly insane.
Storaro has clearly wanted to convey this scene as the state of a man bordering on insanity. Portraying a hallucination or nightmarish dream-like state with shallow focus and deep dark shadows introduces us to the mind and character of a delusional army captain. We are informed of this because Storaro has used limited light, several strange shots and dream-like sequences. These shots edited together give clear view of who this character is and this scene captures the essence of what the film is about.
I have come to the conclusion that cinematography taps in to the psychological conscience of the audience by using light, framing and what is in the frame creating a clearer understanding of the story and character and giving the audience first hand insight by helping them ‘become’ the character.
