The first lyrics of the song are, “This is the end, beautiful friend.” In sync with the lyrics, the entirety of the tree line is engulfed in explosion and flame. Though you’re watching the explosions, the only sounds you hear are the music and the slowed chopper blades. The camera begins to pan from left to right, showing the magnitude of the explosion. Black smoke fills the foreground as the trees burn in the background and helicopters pass through the frame.
As the pan passes the flames to expose un-charred tree line, a close-up on Captain Willard’s face fades in, upside down, in the foreground, on the left half of the screen and a spinning bedroom fan appears on the right. This awkward shot is strangely calming. You wonder, “Why is he upside down? What’s he looking at? Where is he?” The inferred answers are given to you simply by the spinning fan on the right. He’s lying down, staring at the ceiling.
As another chopper crosses from left to right, the fan fades out and the background changes to a closer shot of palm trees silhouetted by an orange glow of flame. The camera is now panning from right to left as parts of the trees break and fall to the ground in slow motion, all the while Willard’s face is still seen at half opacity on the left side of the screen.
The face of a Cambodian stone statue fades in on the right. Only half the face can be seen as it’s partially transparent. This gives a foreboding sense of things to come. The background fades out and is replaced with the previous palm tree line. The flames have started to die down and the statue slowly fades away. Shortly after, Capt. Willard’s face fades out and one helicopter from each side fly across, again giving us the low chopper sound. The tree line fades and is replaced with a close up of a spinning ceiling fan.
The montage continues to show Captain Willard lying on a bed and various articles in the room around him; pictures and letters on a table, cigarettes and a lighter, alcohol, and a gun under his pillow. These show character attributes of the Captain. All of these items are shown with a slow pan from left to right. The montage ends with a shot of the ceiling fan spinning but sounding like the helicopter.
There are no hard cuts, only fades. The placement and timing of items as they fade in and out creates a smooth transition from one idea to another and allows the audience to take in all that’s happening without boring them with overexposure.
Themes
Throughout the movie, Coppola has a theme of Mother Nature’s beauty being marred by the presence of modern war machine technology. For example, a calm river with jungle on either side, during sunset, is disrupted by the military boat motoring from right to left upriver making waves, disturbing serenity; an orange horizon silhouetting palm trees or a mountain range with a squad of helicopters looming above; Helicopters flying low over crystal blue breaking waves right before reigning havoc on a port town. He sets military equipment on the stage and moves them against the natural flow, adding a subtext to the movie; “These things don’t belong and shouldn’t be here.”
Also, Coppola uses the calming narration of Captain Willard to quiet and re-center the audience. He’s able to depict a scene of horrendous violence and bloodshed then the low, controlled voice of Willard narrates, most times explaining the situation just past and brings the audience back to the focus of the movie.
The whole of the movie not only tells the story of Captain Willard’s mission, but it also allows the audience to experience the horrors of war without driving them from the theatre.
