Post date: 02-Oct-2017 11:47:43
Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola (1979)
Let's begin by essential classics, and among these classics, one of the most fascinating ones: Apocalypse Now. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola in 1979, after the immense success of the Godfather I & II and after winning the Palme d'Or a first time with The Conversation, Apocalypse Now was subject to tremendous expectations (which it must have met since it is the second Palme d'or of FFC). I really appreciate Apocalypse Now as a reminder that several conceptions about cinema are actually wrong. The first one would be the conception that high budget and auteur (or indie) approach to cinema making are contradictory: even though Apocalypse Now was subject to big productions constraints, FFC achieved to make a very personal film, talking about controversial and limited audience topics. In the same vein that this conception, this movie also reminds us that a blockbuster (which it kind of was at the time) can and should have an esthetic signature: Apocalypse Now is a filmmaking masterpiece, let's say it. Just the excerpt below proves: what an opening scene. The ceiling fan of the horribly wet room of Martin Sheen mix up with the sound of helicopters throwing napalm on a forest, all that on "The End" by The Doors. Just in a few shots and by genius editing work, Coppola suggest the horror of Vietnam war, and most importantly, the mindset of the character. The movie adopts really experimental filmmaking techniques that brings up Apocalypse Now from entertaining war film to immersive esthetic adventure. Another misconception about cinema is the fact that book adaptations are necessarily less interesting than the book itself: this is completely wrong, and if one movie proves it, it is this one. Freely inspired by Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Coppola had the genius idea of adapting the speech of Conrad about colonial man's madness to the Vietnam war. And finally the main misconception I would like to break here is that Apocalypse Now is not about Vietnam war. Comparing it with any other Vietnam war movie, ranking it below or above the Deer Hunter or Platoon just breaks my heart. Apocalypse Now exploits the context of Vietnam war to vehicle a disturbing question, encompassing the context of this specific war: isn't extremism the only way to win? If the war was lead by Colonel Kurz, would the US have won? This isn't about Vietnam war, this is a journey to the deepest and darkest aspects of human nature. Apocalypse Now makes us face them, in the most terrifying and fascinating way.
Meddle by Pink Floyd (1971)
As I said, beginning with standards, let's talk about one of the most influential psych/progressive rock band: Pink Floyd. With The Dark Side of the Moon, and also Wish You Were Here and The Wall, these english band succeeded in the very complicated task to make progressive rock popular. Indeed, they are probably the best band to approach this technical music style: as a matter of fact, I have listened to the Dark side of the Moon as long as I can remember, and it enters the very limited list of albums I have never got tired of listening since my childhood (the only other member of the list being probably Harvest by Neil Young). Hence, I had to talk about that amazing band with their first recognizable album, the one that defined the style they would adopt in the later years: Meddle. It is probably during the recording of this album that all the members realized the essential talents of the band: David Gilmour's emotional guitar solos, Roger Waters's incredible imagination and conceptual direction, the revolutionary clean engineering of their albums (listen to any other album of 1971, and you'll understand Pink Floyd's sound is absolutely mind blowing). Meddle combines all these skills: Face A is a collection of experimental songs, where the impact of Roger Waters's direction is noticeable. One of these days and its crazy bass line and amazing guitar slide solo of Gilmour, Fearless and its blending with Liverpool's football club's anthem etc. But the obvious climax of this album is face B and the 23 minutes long masterpiece song Echoes. This is, according to me, probably the most beautiful PF's song. A musical journey under water (like the ear represented on the album cover): psychedelic lyrics, Rick Wright's amazing sounds work, Nick Mason's subtle drumming, Gilmour's fantastic soloing... The technique of all these musician isn't the best encountered in the world of Rock music, but the astounding musical sensitivity is probably their greatest strength. From this album until Animals, the band found its voice, and its perfect band management. The Wall will be the end of this formation, where the ego of Roger Waters will overtake the musical of the other musicians, ending in a disastrous break-up. Without its leader Roger Waters, Pink Floyd is a ship without captain (to use an image of Nick Mason). Even though the crew had incredible abilities, the Pink Floyd ship will never bring us as far as it used to do in the early 70s.