Apocalypse Now (USA: Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)

"The figure of the "other father"--the obscene, uncanny, shadow double of the Name of the Father--emerged for the first time in all its force in the novels of Joseph Conrad; what we have in mind here, of course, are figures like Kurz in Heart of Darkness or Mister Brown in Lord Jim. In the midst of the African jungle... the hero encounters Kurz, a kind of "master of enjoyment," a paternal figure which comes close to what Kant called "radical evil," evilness qua ethical attitude, qua pure spirituality... Conrad depicted what remained hidden to Freud... namely the "primordial father" is not a figure of pure, symbolic brute force but a father who knows... The ultimate secret of the parricide is that the father knows the son has come to kill him and accepts his fate obediently" - Slavoj Zizek (Enjoy your Symptom!, p. 158-156)




Apocalypse Now (USA: Francis Ford Coppola, 1979: 153/203 mins)

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---. "Apocalypse Now: Analysis, Part 2." (Posted on Youtube: April 14, 2015)

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Insdorf, Annette. Cinematic Overtures: How to Read Opening Scenes. Columbia University Press, 2017. ["Your professor has a copy of this book."]

Kuersten, Erich. "The Primal Father (CinemArchetypes #8)." Acidemic (March 19, 2012)

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LoBrutto, Vincent. "Tableau Narrative Structure and Sound Design: Apocalypse Now." Becoming Film Literate: The Art and Craft of Motion Pictures. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2005: 14-19. [BCTC Library: PN1994 L595 2005]

Martin, Adrian. "The Misleading Man: Dennis Hopper." Film International 5.1 (2007). [Professor has copy for students]

"The New Cinema: A Fascinating Documentary On the Restructuring of 1960's Hollywood." Cinephilia and Beyond (ND)

Norris, Margaret. Writing War in the Twentieth Century. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 2000. [Available in BCTC Library: PN56 W3 N67 2000]

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Tavoularis, Alex. "Napalm in the Morning." DGA Quarterly (Spring 2013)

Turse, Nick. "Kill Anything That Moves": New Book Exposes Hidden Crimes of the War Kerry, Hagel Fought in Vietnam." Democracy Now (January 15, 2013)

Wasson, Steve. "What Really Went on Between Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Sheen During the Filming of Apocalypse Now?" Literary Hub (November 28, 2023) ["The Disturbing—and Revealing—Story Behind an Iconic Moment in Cinema History."]

More than 40 years on from the release of Apocalypse Now, the opening sequence still leaves an unshakeable sense of dread. The film casts an immediate spell, and 'The End' is its incantation. The song’s delirious vocals and shadowy, brooding psychedelic instrumentals are eerily apt accompaniments to the visions of warfare that unfold onscreen. As Captain Willard’s head swims with napalm and choppers, The Doors invite you to join him in the darkness.

Although inspired by Joseph Conrad’s 1899 novella Heart of Darkness, director Francis Ford Coppola had quite a different world to work with. Instead of European empires and the Congo, Apocalypse Now deals in America and the Vietnam War. 'The End' also nods to the wider tumult back in the States at the time — to a counterculture learning to question its government’s virtue at home and abroad. The song’s gothic despair sets the scene for the horrors to come. It’s the perfect overture for an all-American nightmare. – Frederick O'Brien