Thematic Script

Thematic Script

Apocalypse Now, by Francis Ford Coppola (1979) *

Characters:

Willard, (played by Martin Sheen)* US officer on a mission to kill another US officer gone mad
Kurtz, (played by Marlon Brando) *US officer gone mad somewhere up in Cambodia
Obvious name typing : Willard = will power [volonté], but also villain; Kurtz = curse [malédiction]
* these link to Internet sites documenting those quoted.

The Water Theme: look at the river throughout the film. Pay attention to its size and what some of the characters say about it.Try to understand its symbolism, as well as the boat's.

Weapons: the type of weapons used by the protagonists changes as the boat sails upriver. In what way? What meaning does it bring to the story?

Willard = Kurtz theme. Coppola takes great care to make us notice their similarities. How? What does he mean by that?

Reflection on God. The title itself is an indication. But there are many allusions to religion, and the existence –or non-existence– of God in the film.

Cow-boys vs Indians theme. This is a leitmotiv. Try to remember its occurrences. What do they mean?

Yet another is the Minotaur theme: What connections are there between the story in Greek mythology and the storyline of Apocalypse Now?

Synopsis

Scene	Setting	Sound	Echoes
Casting unfolds with napalm fire, helicopters flying over	Jungle forest	music by the Doors
Willard awakens hazy image of Stone buddha from ceiling fan to helicopters landing outside catches a fly with his hand (see Kurtz do the same at the end) karate movements black face in the dark (Willard himself, as he will appear in the Bull sacrifice scene)	Saigon bedroom, heat	noise of ceiling fan, dissolving into beating noise of helicopter landing	4.1. 3.1. 2.1. 3.2..
Short helicopter trip to Headquarters "I was going to the worst place in the world and I didn't even know it yet. Weeks away and hundreds of miles up a river that snaked through the war like a main circuit cable, plugged in straight into Kurtz. It was no accident that I got to be the caretaker of Col. Walter E Kurtz's memory... There is no way to tell his story without telling my own. Anf if his story is really a confession, then so is mine."		Willard's voice over	3.3.
Briefing scene First recording of Kurtz: Nightmare of the snail crawling over a straight razor's blade "What do they call it when the assassin kills the assassin? They lie. They lie." First report on Kurtz: "These mountaineers, they worship him like a God" General speaking: "In this war, things get confused out there. With the natives, it must be a temptation to be God. 'Cause there's a conflict between the rational and irrational... between good and evil. And good does not always triumph. Sometimes the dark side overcomes what Lincoln called "the better angels of our nature" Every man has got a breaking point. You and I have them. Col. Kurtz has reached his. Very obviously he has gone insane." "Terminate the colonel's command "terminate the colonel? "Terminate with extreme prejudice Officer's eyes covered, like "see nothing" monkey	Saigon US headquarters		3.4. 4.2.
boat sailing upstream	wide river		1.1.
US Cavalry helicopter scenes walkyries helicopter attack scene on village with machine gun, gatlin gun and rockets jet bombers' attack on jungle "I like the smell of napalm in the morning" campfire / / destruction of helicopter by Vietcong girl	beach, night sea, village		5.1. 2.2.
Start voyage up river panning from left to right Willard thinking Often same pattern : action then reflection echo? Willard's Band Aid = warpaint	river	Willard's voice over	1.2. 3.5../5.2.
action: Mango tree (buddhist allusion?) and tiger scene reflection: "never get out of the f*ing boat" "Kurtz got out of the boat" (boat = river = civilisation) "He could have gone for general: Instead he had gone for himself" gone** = gone amock, gone mad, or quest for identity?	Out from the river into the jungle	Willard's voice over	1.3
action: show with gogo girls on platform helicopter sound helicopters landing women getting down in flimsy Indian / cow-boy attire, firing ridiculously tame fake guns (esp. compared with the arsenal we've seen at work so far) reflection: Willard always marginal, out, thinking about Charlie (= vietcong), about death, and victory	supply base behind frontline helicopter landing pad turned into stage for gogo girls		5.3. 2.3.
two-boat encounter scene sort of mock, playful combat between the two US craft, ironically foreshadowing the deadly encounter with Vietnamese sampan later on	river
rain scene with black kid drumming Willard continues to analyze Kurtz's record with obvious admiration "he was gone" "the vietcong was scared by him" "charges are quite completely insane" says Kurtz in a letter to his family, echoing what the generals said of him	river boat		3.6.
action: growing adrenalin of boat master who wants to keep his crew busy, hence encounter with sampan resulting in loss of control and carnage contrast between mad agitation of boys and cold-blooded Willard finishing off wounded girl remark by Willard: "a lie", same as Kurtz	river, getting narrower	Willard's voice over	3.7.
Hell scene in river, then in bunker Stygian scene, red lights, people and bodies in the water =souls Willard = Charon, literally plunges into hell to get his orders from Almighty Willard's face black in the shade sniper put to silence Willard receives mail from HQ, has to head up north beyond the borderline = beyond civilisation, beyond bridge and into Cambodia "get us up river" he says to the boat master smoke flare scene machine gun fire black kid is killed boat getting slower and slower	much smaller river up north, place named Do Long bridge Do Long = So Long? Bunker up river across the bridge	voice over of Vietnamese propaganda girl on the radio	4.3. 1.4. 1.5.
action : fog scene shouts, vague crucifixes in the haze Willard's reflection: "he was close. I could feel his presence" "much stronger than fear was the desire to confront him" arrow attack Writing on kid's seat: God's Country boat master killed by a spear : "A spear??!!" tries to kill Willard as he lays dying		Willard's voice over rattling noise of arrows raining down (= very much like machine gun fire)	4.4. 3.8. 2.4./5.3. 4..5.
crucifixes in background, lit from behind	river, night		4.6.
action: end of river scene stone buddha people naked, like Indians, with spears crowd of canoes surrounding the gunboat as they approach, they see an incredible number of bodies hanging from trees, chopped-off heads, etc. encounter with photojournalist turned Indian, choric function : "He enlarges my mind" implicit irony is : but reduces heads encounter with previously sent officer, also turned Indian, with warpaint on his face	upper end of the river native village with stone temple in the jungle		1.5 4.7. 2.5/ 5.4. 5.5.
three characters left: Willard, the blond kid, stoned out of his mind, the chef very short vision of chalk writing on wall: Apocalypse= Now! (cf.Bible, Daniel,5,25) war council in the boat: Willard plans an air strike on the site if everything goes wrong: "Call the air strike, code Almighty", almighty being the code name of HeadQuarters = God	Boat on the river		4.8. 4.9.
scene in Kurtz's lodge Willard's comment : "this was the end of the river all right" deep darkness (remember title of book, Heart of Darkness) Kurtz's black head of = Willard's black head K: "How far are you from the river?" = How far are you gone from civilisation? V: "The Ohio river, Sir?" Dialogue proceeds: "Did they say why they wanted to terminate my command?" "They told me you've gone totally insane, that your methods are unsound. I can't see any method at all." "Are you an assassin?" "I'm a soldier" "You are neither. You are an errand boy sent by grocery clerks to collect the bill." headquarters = God = grocery clerks!	Kurt's den: absolute darkness, very few visible details		1.6. 3.9. 1.7. 1.8. 4.10.
cage scene Willard is attached in the cage, the photojournalist explains Kurtz's charisma	bamboo cage
boat scene the chef tries to reach Almighty, to no avail: God has disappeared. Only Kurtz will come	boat isolated in the middle of the river		4.11.
cage scene Kurtz approaches in camouflage warpaint, very dark visage throws the chef's head on Willard's lap, Willard yells: "Jesus!! Oh Gooood!!" ===> God associated with horror	bamboo cage		3.10. 4.10.
poetry scene Kurtz reads poetry photojournalist tries to intervene, gets thrown out Willard listens, exchanges glances with photographer buddha smile	Kurtz's lodge, pitch dark	Kurtz's voice over: he is the one who builds the story now	4.11.
defense scene "you have a right to kill me "you have no right to judge me "horror has a face, and... "moral terror are your friends" (anecdote of village children vaccinated and then mutilated by their own people) "I cried and wept like an old grandmother "the genius, the will to do that, crystal pure... they are stronger than me... utilize their primordial instinct to kill	same	Kurtz, virtually voice over status
bull scene // Kurtz's death scene Willard's black head emerging from the water Bull falling to villagers' axes and machetes shadow of Kurtz falling to Willard's machete	Willard metaphorically leaving the river village plazza Kurtz's lodge		3.11. 2.6.
Willard with greenish face camouflage walking out of Kurtz's lodge, bloody machete in hand -subjective camera + countershot with upward shot. Willard takes the surfer kid, Lance, by the hand and leads him back to the boat, as the crowd opens up for them	village plazza		3.12.
boat motionless on the river "This is Almighty. Do you read me?" voice of Almighty abruptly cut off. Buddha smile in the darkness: the same as the one glimpsed at the very beginning of the film) (Oriental spirituality smiling on Occidental religion's failure to handle this world?) "the horror... the horror... boat slowly turns its bows downstream	river	sound of radio static crackling Kurtz's voice over, obsessive	4.12. 4.13. 1.9.