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Astrology at the Movies: Apocalypse Now - Redux
Just Blathering…
CC commented regarding my blog about Apocalypse Now, “It’s a pretty strong and illustrative statement to call it your favorite film.” ::smiles:: I like how she said that, and I guess I agree with her. But what she doesn’t know is I have a long and somewhat sordid / amusing history with Special Forces soldiers. I seem to attract them and vice versa, which is a trick considering I don’t live in a city where they are concentrated. And this has been true since I was seventeen years old.
In fact, I saw that movie, opening day, or the day after, with my boyfriend at the time, who went on to become career Special Forces. He was a real bad ass, as evidenced by the fact he survived 16 years in SF, which I don’t think many manage.
Anyway, when that movie came out, people were so pissed. They hated it! They were pissed because Brando, who they came to see, did not appear until the end of the film. The were pissed at his character too. They didn’t like his bald head! They were pissed that he was filmed in shadow. They were pissed over the violent slaughter of an animal, and they were just plain PISSED in general and on principal! So how’s that for Mars?
Believe me, people hated that movie when it came out, but it is one hell of a movie as time has shown. There has been nothing like it since, as far as I’m concerned and I’ll tell you what I mean.
There is no pandering in that movie. There is no “product placement”! There is no philosophy being shoved down your throat. It’s just a story. It’s pure story and fuck you, if you don’t like it. Further, it’s got that spear in it!
When that spear hits that guy…well I have never been more profoundly impacted by a scene in a movie in my life. I remember seeing that the first time, like yesterday. And it takes a minute before the nuance hits. The irony of what that spear represents. And this is high art. To move someone with a bit of celluloid the way that scene moved me.
Because I have spent my life recalling that moment. When the guy looks down and sees what has happened, with all the meaning attached. You see it come to his consciousness, with a mixture of agony and enlightenment. Do you know that feeling? I do. And to put that shit on film…well, it just brings me to my knees. And moves me to tears.
But anyway, Special Forces. I have an affinity with these men, I won’t deny it. And one more thing.
Just look at that picture of Brando. Could it possibly be better lit? I don’t think so.
So what is your favorite movie and why?
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I have two favorite movies of all time. One is Casablanca and the other is Jean Renoir’s Rules of the Game. In general I prefer old movies to new ones and part of the reason is the dialogue: crisp and somewhat arch. People often complain that no one talks like that in real life. Well, people don’t appear in black and white either nor are beautiful women lit with a key light. Violins don’t rise to a crescendo when they have epiphanies and there’s no crosscutting between our lives and others’ (at least, not that we can see, anyway.) There’s a high degree of artifice to these movies and that makes them all the more glamorous to me.
I love Bogey’s character in Casablanca: he seems cynical in the beginning and he “sticks his neck out for no one”. Yeah, right. The entire movie is about how he wants to get out of playing his part in history. He just wants to run a cafe in a dusty forgotten town in the middle of a war and he doesn’t want to have to deal with the bigger questions. And then comes Ilse. Now, he is one angry, mean fuck when he finally speaks to her alone after all those years. That rings very true to me. (Btw, I also love how much is left unsaid between Bogey and her husband–I love how there’s a tacit understanding between all three. It just seems so grown-up and sophisticated. Nowadays, you’d have a scene where Ilse and her husband lay all the cards out on the table and talk about things ad nauseam and the husband gets jealous and Ilse justifies herself and… ugh, how tiresome. There are some things we just “know” and talking about them is not the only form of honesty.) Anyway when Ilse reappears in his life, Bogey can no longer stick to the illusion that he is going to ride the war out without taking a stand. Whose side is he on? (And notice that this is a great parallel to the American isolationist attitude of the time; The war is hapenning OVER THERE, we’ll just carry on with our business.) Rick/Bogey has the choice to get what he wants (Ilse, the love of his life) or to take the high road. He chooses the high road. Plus, there’s so much humor and style in Casablanca!! The whole movie is, imo, so much more sophisticated than our current attitude. There is a lot of glamour, yes, but there is also an unsaid understanding of the terrible choices people make during a war. And it’s not just Rick and Ilse but the other characters in the background.
As to Rules of the Game, what can I say? I love Renoir. He was a great humanist and if you see any of his movies, you’ll see why. His characters are people. Renoir was famous for saying: The terrible thing about life is that everyone has his reasons. In Rules of the Game, he shows all these different characters pursuing their own selfish goals. But Renoir doesn’t judge. He doesn’t justify. He just lets these characters run around and shows us the chaos that ensues. It’s chaotic and human and complex. And there’s so much love for humanity in it!
And Vittorio Storaro was the great cinematographer on Apocalypse Now. He was also the DP on The Conformit, 1900 and Last Tango in Paris. He’s still around! I just found out that he shot a movie about Carlos Gardel, the greatest tango singer of all time. (Oh, yeah, I love the tango, wouldn’t you know it?)
Coincidentally, I’m about to write a review about Apocolypse Now as it is my second favorite film. I’ve seen it about 20 times and each time I find something new. My favorite film is 2001 - A Space Odessy.
I can’t pick one. I have to pick three- Donnie Darko (not the directors cut), The Big Lebowski and the Royal Tenebaums. Why? D.D.:The mystery, the intensity and the wierdness of it. The casting and music were also spot on. (Patrick Swayze as a cheesy-facaded kiddie porn collector: scarily realistic!) Royal Ts.: Because it blends cute n’ kitsch with dark and heavy.(Favourite scene is were Luke Wilson shaves his head and cuts his wrists to the song ‘needle in the hay’.) The Big Lebowski: ‘cos I could watch it over and over and it makes me happy every single time.
I loved the redux too. It has some of the best lines… If you don’t mind an older style of writing, you might want to check out Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and watch it again! Adds a whole new layer.
My fave movie is Peter Greenaway’s The Pillow Book. It’s very Venus conj Neptune in Sag. Other than that, I tend towards other extravagant, visually rich films like Leolo, Le Delicatessen, Orlando etc.
p.s. I left you a msg at nodeorama awhile back, assuming you checked in regularly, but just in case you don’t… you’ve got PM!
I love, love, love American Beauty.
Generally I’m a huge fan of Kevin Spacey, and as far as I’m concerned American Beauty is wonderful from its bleak humor to its poignancy.
Transamerica ties for first place - again from its humour to its brilliantly acted characters.
Some of my other movies I feel adoration for sufficiently to buy them on DVD:
-Neverland - all about magic and imagination and based on one of my favourite books
- Japanese Story - I like this film because there is an intense beautiful love story told without soppiness or many words. The scenery is fantastic - it is shot in Australia - and I love the fact that the story between the characters is all the more powerful for its understatement.
- Rabbit Proof Fence, Cry The Beloved Country, are both the sort of political film I like - simple, powerful, without violence or excessive drama.
In general I’m a massive fan of the quirky indy or foreign film. I can’t stand violence [I can just about take violence happening quickly - like a round of gunfire] but any protracted battle or torture scene will have me be curled up on myself with my eyes shut chanting in my head to drown out the sound and relying on my partner to tell me when it’s all over.