Apocalypse Now

Started re-watching Apocalypse Now this evening, which I haven't watched in years. DS is watching along with me, and as always it's fascinating to see it through his fresh eyes and through the filter of his keen brain. Lots of topics: the reasons for the war, the peace movement at the time, the corruption of power, the fate of Vietnam veterans, the techniques and psychology of jungle warfare, the cultural fallout from the war both in the US and here, when is a war film not a war film, the soundtrack choices, the sayings from the film that have passed into our popular culture (he'd heard both 'Charlie don't surf' and 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning'), and lots of other things. He's at that age where he wants to soak up all the classic films etc that he needs to know to be part of the grown-up world, or that's how he sees it. I love it.

We're as far as the end of the surfing sequence. More tomorrow night.

And I've never been sure how much of my love for this film is down to how stoned I was the first time I saw it... but that was a long time ago...

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