The 1970s movie that blew Spike Lee’s mind: “That fucked me up”
Francis Ford Coppola might just be one of the most notorious figures in Hollywood, with a stoic yet slightly ominous presence that continues to induce both awe and fear. After emerging during the New Hollywood movement among the likes of Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese, the director started with more experimental stories like The Rain People and Finian’s Rainbow, making enough of a splash to make what will forever be known as his greatest contribution to cinema: The Godfather.
From this point onwards, things in Hollywood changed very quickly, with directors going from being at the whims of the studio heads to the other way round, while Coppola became a crucial element in bringing power to the artists and toppling the rigged system.
But fame got to his head a little bit, with the director being described as a man mad with power after the huge blockbuster success of The Godfather and starting his own production company, American Zoetrope. Through this, he funded more artistically daring pictures like The Conversation and worked with George Lucas before he split to make Star Wars, eventually leading to his most ambitious picture to date, Apocalypse Now, which perhaps remains the most disastrous and dangerous production of all time.
It isn’t surprising that none other than fellow Hollywood anarchist Spike Lee highlighted his love for the picture, with the Do The Right Thing director holding a similar love for breaking the rules and forging one’s own path. However, this was done in a completely unprecedented way during the production of Apocalypse Now, with the shoot lasting 238 days and being plagued by an endless list of disasters. The budget kept ballooning, and Coppola’s vision didn’t die down one bit, whether it be extreme weather, temper tantrums from lead cast members or Martin Sheen’s complete mental breakdown.
There was even a documentary about the disasters that occurred on set, with The Heart of Darkness capturing just how far the man went to stay true to his vision and make the greatest war epic of all time. It was for this reason that Lee mentioned the film while attending Coppola’s AFI Lifetime Achievement ceremony, saying, “I had an internship at Columbia Pictures that summer, and in August, when Apocalypse Now opened, I was the first in line. I still have my ticket stub. And that fucked me up”.
To put it simply, it is a picture that will fuck you up. It’s relentless in its chaos and darkness, never shying away from the horrors of war and painting the worst side of humanity with a close-up lens. While it might have been a nightmare to make, it surely isn’t something that Coppola regrets in any way, with the film being met with praise that matches its challenges and being heralded as one of the greatest cinematic achievements of all time.
Coppola might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but there’s no denying that he has been a game-changer since day one, fiercely doing his own thing and never giving up on his ideas, no matter how outlandish and absurd.
