Apocalypse Now Ending- Scene Analysis
Apocalypse Now's end scene was definitely a controversial one. Although our protagonist, Captain Willard played by Martin Sheen, succeeds in his mission of killing Colonel Kurts, the resolution still feels somewhat anticlimactic for a number of reasons in which we will explore. Furthermore the ending plays an important role in conveying the film's central themes such as the nature of war, power and evil and human nature in general and finally colonialism and imperialism.
The scene begins with Willard narrating: "they were gonna make me a major for this, and i wasn't even in their fucking army anymore" indicating what is to happen after all is done, furthermore adding to the resolution. The cinematography of the scene is very dark, the only hint of light that can be seen is the glow of the moon reflecting on the water. Non-diegetic music begins playing accompanied by the dialogue. Willard states "I felt like he was up there. Waiting for me to take the pain away.He just wanted to go out like a soldier; standing up". This line of dialogue explores American pride and, considering the context of the film shines a rather negative light on the matter. From when Willard delivers his line "Standing up" the camera cuts to the platform leading into Kurt's imperialist kingdom. The cinematography contrasts the last cut starkly.
Our narrator continues: "even the jungle wanted him dead, and that's who he really took his orders from anyway". This line highlights the nature of Kurts - although very powerful equally as messy and corrupt as the war itself- and more specifically creates a certain fate for this assassination as if it were destined. We see a brief cut of Lance who seems to have joined Kurts on the road to insanity. He is displayed half naked with a face full of red paint smearing blood on some kind of an ox. The camera then cuts to Willard slowly rising from the opaque brown water. At first the scene is very warm toned, displaying tints of tawny. As he continues ascending from the water, cool toned lighting erupts as the diegetic sound of thunder booms simultaneously. Adding to the atmosphere, smoke and mist can be seen floating around Willard, which is highlighted as the strikes of lighting call attention to it. Willard looks cautiously around, as the scene cuts to the tribe preparing their next animal to ritually kill. Colonel Kurts's figure is seen immersing from a doorway projecting golden hues, he then turns to walk away. The non-diegetic music is beginning to get louder and more intense.
The camera cuts to a shot of Willard crouched down, presumably preparing for battle. The cinematography is extremely dark as none of his features can be seen, only his frame. The sole light emulating from the fire behind him, lighting the native tribe in golden hues, dancing in the background and waving torchlights. Rain drops can be seen plummeting down as smoke rises up. Diegetic sounds from the tribe cheering can be heard in the distance. Willard slowly begins to stand up as the vocalist in the non-diegetic music begins to sing. Blue tinted lightning strikes as diegetic thunder rumbles. Willard is now standing, with a weapon in hand looking up at the sky. He takes in a deep breath before he runs off to the left of the screen.
In the next cut, he can only just be seen emerging from the right of the screen. Again, the lighting is extremely dark. To the right of the shot, the tribe's fire can be seen glowing. To the left of the shot, the doorway to Kurts can also be seen glowing with golden hues. The middle of the shot is completely black, yet we catch a glimpse of willard making his way to the doorway as lightning momentarily strikes as the camera begins to slowly pan inwards.
We then see a man on look-out. Once again, dark cinematography and warm-toned lighting. We see Willard emerge from behind him, perfuming a stealthy attack as the man is dragged into darkness. A woman from the tribe receives a close up next. She is beautifully lit with the glow of the fire as shadows dance across her face produced by figures dancing infant of her. The montage continues as we see a brief cut of Willard grasping his weapon. The camera cuts to a mid-shot of Willard emerging from darkness, making his way towards the camera, face is painted in camouflage green ready to strike. We hear the diegetic sound of Colonel Kurts making a diary entry in the next cut. He is displayed sitting down in darkness; only his body frame can be seen. A bright golden beam radiates behind him as an orange mist fills the air.
The line of dialogue delivered by Marlon Brando is played during the next few cuts of the montage: "They train young men to drop fire on people, but their commanders won't allow them to write 'fuck' on their aeroplanes because it's obscene!", conveying the films commentary on the absurdity of war. It's important to note that although this character is said to represent evil and insanity, he makes a fair point here, therefor I think the themes of human nature, power and evil are not exhibited very straightforward; slightly more ambiguous that initially presumed.
a woman is seen approaching as Willard draws closer to his target. The non-diegetic music grows louder ,very fast paced containing heavy ornamentation. Suddenly, Willards dark figure can be seen striking with his weapon whilst the camera quickly cuts to a long shot of two of the tribe members striking at their animal. The idea of this ritual killing taking place simultaneously with Kurt's killing implies a ritualistic quality about his death. The shot cuts to a mid-shot to capture the gore as they continue hacking at the ox with it falling to it's knees. Shots of Willard's figure striking at Kurts is incorporated and we see Kurts dodging the blows until ultimately he stands to face Willard, and willard takes his fatal swing. Kurt's head can be seen dropping, yet Willard takes another few swings to finish him off. Cuts of Kurt's face, dripping with blood and swaying around are shown in-between these final slashes as the non-diegetic music begins reaching it's climax.
Kurts falls to the floor as the ox does simultaneously, yet the tribe members are still chopping away.
The editing of these cuts are very fast, conveying the chaotic atmosphere of the scene.
The ox finally keels over as the music finishes with a perfect cadence.
Subjectively I find fact that they used a real animal in this scene quite interesting. I understand that the purpose of this scene wasn't intentional; Coppola happened to be filming whilst the ritual was taking place, yet i can't help but to imagine the comments from the press and the public if someone used footage like that in a film today. I personally think the gore in this scene was intriguing- although i'm not condoning the killing of an innocent animal for footage, i think it tied in perfectly with the assassination of colonel Kurts and added an extra layer of depth to the film.
Kurt's then received a close up where, in contrast to prior scenes, you can only see his face. Splashes of blood are shows across his face as he whispers his dying words: "the horror...the horror". We then see a shot of Willard, running his hands through his hair, lit very darkly as we cannot see his face. There is an eerie silence now as his eyes roam the room. Clearly, good triumphs over evil yet, once again it is not that straightforward.
The scene begins with Willard narrating: "they were gonna make me a major for this, and i wasn't even in their fucking army anymore" indicating what is to happen after all is done, furthermore adding to the resolution. The cinematography of the scene is very dark, the only hint of light that can be seen is the glow of the moon reflecting on the water. Non-diegetic music begins playing accompanied by the dialogue. Willard states "I felt like he was up there. Waiting for me to take the pain away.He just wanted to go out like a soldier; standing up". This line of dialogue explores American pride and, considering the context of the film shines a rather negative light on the matter. From when Willard delivers his line "Standing up" the camera cuts to the platform leading into Kurt's imperialist kingdom. The cinematography contrasts the last cut starkly.
Our narrator continues: "even the jungle wanted him dead, and that's who he really took his orders from anyway". This line highlights the nature of Kurts - although very powerful equally as messy and corrupt as the war itself- and more specifically creates a certain fate for this assassination as if it were destined. We see a brief cut of Lance who seems to have joined Kurts on the road to insanity. He is displayed half naked with a face full of red paint smearing blood on some kind of an ox. The camera then cuts to Willard slowly rising from the opaque brown water. At first the scene is very warm toned, displaying tints of tawny. As he continues ascending from the water, cool toned lighting erupts as the diegetic sound of thunder booms simultaneously. Adding to the atmosphere, smoke and mist can be seen floating around Willard, which is highlighted as the strikes of lighting call attention to it. Willard looks cautiously around, as the scene cuts to the tribe preparing their next animal to ritually kill. Colonel Kurts's figure is seen immersing from a doorway projecting golden hues, he then turns to walk away. The non-diegetic music is beginning to get louder and more intense.
The camera cuts to a shot of Willard crouched down, presumably preparing for battle. The cinematography is extremely dark as none of his features can be seen, only his frame. The sole light emulating from the fire behind him, lighting the native tribe in golden hues, dancing in the background and waving torchlights. Rain drops can be seen plummeting down as smoke rises up. Diegetic sounds from the tribe cheering can be heard in the distance. Willard slowly begins to stand up as the vocalist in the non-diegetic music begins to sing. Blue tinted lightning strikes as diegetic thunder rumbles. Willard is now standing, with a weapon in hand looking up at the sky. He takes in a deep breath before he runs off to the left of the screen.
In the next cut, he can only just be seen emerging from the right of the screen. Again, the lighting is extremely dark. To the right of the shot, the tribe's fire can be seen glowing. To the left of the shot, the doorway to Kurts can also be seen glowing with golden hues. The middle of the shot is completely black, yet we catch a glimpse of willard making his way to the doorway as lightning momentarily strikes as the camera begins to slowly pan inwards.
We then see a man on look-out. Once again, dark cinematography and warm-toned lighting. We see Willard emerge from behind him, perfuming a stealthy attack as the man is dragged into darkness. A woman from the tribe receives a close up next. She is beautifully lit with the glow of the fire as shadows dance across her face produced by figures dancing infant of her. The montage continues as we see a brief cut of Willard grasping his weapon. The camera cuts to a mid-shot of Willard emerging from darkness, making his way towards the camera, face is painted in camouflage green ready to strike. We hear the diegetic sound of Colonel Kurts making a diary entry in the next cut. He is displayed sitting down in darkness; only his body frame can be seen. A bright golden beam radiates behind him as an orange mist fills the air.
The line of dialogue delivered by Marlon Brando is played during the next few cuts of the montage: "They train young men to drop fire on people, but their commanders won't allow them to write 'fuck' on their aeroplanes because it's obscene!", conveying the films commentary on the absurdity of war. It's important to note that although this character is said to represent evil and insanity, he makes a fair point here, therefor I think the themes of human nature, power and evil are not exhibited very straightforward; slightly more ambiguous that initially presumed.
a woman is seen approaching as Willard draws closer to his target. The non-diegetic music grows louder ,very fast paced containing heavy ornamentation. Suddenly, Willards dark figure can be seen striking with his weapon whilst the camera quickly cuts to a long shot of two of the tribe members striking at their animal. The idea of this ritual killing taking place simultaneously with Kurt's killing implies a ritualistic quality about his death. The shot cuts to a mid-shot to capture the gore as they continue hacking at the ox with it falling to it's knees. Shots of Willard's figure striking at Kurts is incorporated and we see Kurts dodging the blows until ultimately he stands to face Willard, and willard takes his fatal swing. Kurt's head can be seen dropping, yet Willard takes another few swings to finish him off. Cuts of Kurt's face, dripping with blood and swaying around are shown in-between these final slashes as the non-diegetic music begins reaching it's climax.
Kurts falls to the floor as the ox does simultaneously, yet the tribe members are still chopping away.
The editing of these cuts are very fast, conveying the chaotic atmosphere of the scene.
The ox finally keels over as the music finishes with a perfect cadence.
Subjectively I find fact that they used a real animal in this scene quite interesting. I understand that the purpose of this scene wasn't intentional; Coppola happened to be filming whilst the ritual was taking place, yet i can't help but to imagine the comments from the press and the public if someone used footage like that in a film today. I personally think the gore in this scene was intriguing- although i'm not condoning the killing of an innocent animal for footage, i think it tied in perfectly with the assassination of colonel Kurts and added an extra layer of depth to the film.
Kurt's then received a close up where, in contrast to prior scenes, you can only see his face. Splashes of blood are shows across his face as he whispers his dying words: "the horror...the horror". We then see a shot of Willard, running his hands through his hair, lit very darkly as we cannot see his face. There is an eerie silence now as his eyes roam the room. Clearly, good triumphs over evil yet, once again it is not that straightforward.
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