Francis Ford Coppola is a director who has dabbled a little in every genre, never really settling down, never developing his own "tropes", never becoming predictable. Masters like Martin Scorsese certainly deserve their credit, but watching a Scorsese film, you know you're going to get fast-dolly-in movements, and you're probably going to get some Rolling Stones soundtrack. There are few similarities between Apocalypse Now, Rumble Fish and The Godfather, so with Coppola, you really never know what to expect.
The film is said to be based on the novel Heart of Darkness, and while there are some parallels, it's really nothing like a direct adaptation. The film follows Martin Sheen as Captain Benjamin J. Willard, a veteran secret operatives specialist who, after his last tour of duty, has apparently taken to heavy drinking and grown psychotic in the meantime.
The only thing he wants is to be put back into action, thriving on the blood lust and having no other purpose in life than to fight. He rots away in his room as choppers fly over head, going stir crazy while awaiting the next assignment.
The famous shot of Sheen punching the mirror was not scripted. He really went that crazy. The film is full of scenes and moments that were not scripted, and not just because of Coppola's open attitude towards improvisation. The making of feature on this film is just about as wild and as fascinating as the movie itself, but we've only got time to review one or the other for now...
The movie is loaded from end to end with unforgettable scenes and incredible characters. Before we even get into the main cast, we have Cockroach, who appears for a single scene in the film during a fight over a key bridge in Vietnam. He sleeps through the battle while the others defend, but when a lone V. C. Sits amongst his friends bodies in the dark, shouting insults, Cockroach is awoken, he fires a grenade into the air which arcs perfectly and silences the V. C. Immediately, and then Cockroach goes back to bed. Robert Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore is one of the greatest one-scene characters ever, ordering his men to surf while mortar fire hits the waves.
This is without even mentioning any of the main characters. You could remove Kilgore, Dennis Hopper or Cockroach and still tell this story. Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz is, in fact, the heart of the film, despite not even appearing until the final act of the story. Even without appearing on screen until the finale, his existence casts a nihilistic dread across the atmosphere of the movie.
The film works on every level. It's an incredible action film, a fascinating political statement, it's funny, and, at times, it's even endearing. However, while it succeeds on all these levels, the nihilism cast over the film by Kurtz and Willard eventually overwhelms all these other aspects and creates a film that is dark, psychedelic, and a frightening look into the human heart.
Coppola always cites Rumble Fish as his own favorite amongst his films, but fans will duke it out between Apocalypse Now and The Godfather Part 2. Of course, it's always up to the individual viewer, but without a doubt, this film is certainly his most ambitious, his most unpredictable, and his most insane movie.
The film is said to be based on the novel Heart of Darkness, and while there are some parallels, it's really nothing like a direct adaptation. The film follows Martin Sheen as Captain Benjamin J. Willard, a veteran secret operatives specialist who, after his last tour of duty, has apparently taken to heavy drinking and grown psychotic in the meantime.
The only thing he wants is to be put back into action, thriving on the blood lust and having no other purpose in life than to fight. He rots away in his room as choppers fly over head, going stir crazy while awaiting the next assignment.
The famous shot of Sheen punching the mirror was not scripted. He really went that crazy. The film is full of scenes and moments that were not scripted, and not just because of Coppola's open attitude towards improvisation. The making of feature on this film is just about as wild and as fascinating as the movie itself, but we've only got time to review one or the other for now...
The movie is loaded from end to end with unforgettable scenes and incredible characters. Before we even get into the main cast, we have Cockroach, who appears for a single scene in the film during a fight over a key bridge in Vietnam. He sleeps through the battle while the others defend, but when a lone V. C. Sits amongst his friends bodies in the dark, shouting insults, Cockroach is awoken, he fires a grenade into the air which arcs perfectly and silences the V. C. Immediately, and then Cockroach goes back to bed. Robert Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore is one of the greatest one-scene characters ever, ordering his men to surf while mortar fire hits the waves.
This is without even mentioning any of the main characters. You could remove Kilgore, Dennis Hopper or Cockroach and still tell this story. Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz is, in fact, the heart of the film, despite not even appearing until the final act of the story. Even without appearing on screen until the finale, his existence casts a nihilistic dread across the atmosphere of the movie.
The film works on every level. It's an incredible action film, a fascinating political statement, it's funny, and, at times, it's even endearing. However, while it succeeds on all these levels, the nihilism cast over the film by Kurtz and Willard eventually overwhelms all these other aspects and creates a film that is dark, psychedelic, and a frightening look into the human heart.
Coppola always cites Rumble Fish as his own favorite amongst his films, but fans will duke it out between Apocalypse Now and The Godfather Part 2. Of course, it's always up to the individual viewer, but without a doubt, this film is certainly his most ambitious, his most unpredictable, and his most insane movie.
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