Apocalypse Now Scene-by-Scene

We have for some time accepted that, to be a literate person, we should be familiar with a film canon as well as a book canon. While in our pluralistic world we might each have our own list of movies (as well as of books), most such lists would include Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now.”And just as we might want to dip into literary criticism and related books to help us mull over the books we read. In the case of Apocalypse Now we might want to re-read Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” but also the “Odyssey,” Frazer’s “The Golden Bough” (an abridged version of course), some T. S. Eliot, and more.Or, you can read John David Ebert’s “Apocalypse Now: Scene-by-Scene.” Although rich with references to Jacques Lacan, Gilles Deleuze, Martin Heidegger, Jacques Derrida, James Hillman, Mircea Eliade, and others, Ebert’s book is not just a scholarly tome, but also a pleasure to read, its mood often matching that of the movie in such passages as:“It is Kurtz who is the source of the insanity of the Vietnam war, a war which, somehow, has projected from his mind like the physical world that radiates from the mind of the dreaming god Vishnu, whose sleep is our waking reality. Indeed there is even a stone statue of the god Brahma, the Indian god with four faces which sits on a lotus that emanates from the sleeping god Vishnu and sends the radiant energies of his dream beaming out with this four faces into the four directions of the world.”This is the first of a series of scene-by-scene books by Ebert on key movies, with “Star Wars,” “Alien,” and “The Shining” already out, and others in the works. Up your film literacy: re-watch each of these with Ebert’s books as your guides.While you are at it, check out Ebert’s other books—a good way to keep culturally current. And you can follow him on CinemaDiscourse.com and CulturalDiscourse.com.

In his new book, John David Ebert takes up the role of Virgil to the reader’s Dante as both make their way through the Inferno that is Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now―one of the greatest films ever made. It ought to be specified that Ebert actually analyzes the 2001 extended version of the film known as Apocalypse Now Redux rather than the original 1979 theatrical version (and with good reason, which he explains). Have you ever deeply loved a film but couldn’t really articulate what it is about it that so intensely connects with you? Well, if you have experienced this, then this book will be very illuminating for you. What Ebert essentially does in it is unpack what he calls the “meaning cloud” which surrounds the film. This means that he makes explicit much of the meaning in the film that resonates with us, but usually only at an implicit level. Through the use of his conceptual toolkit comprised of concepts borrowed from psychoanalysis (Freud, Jung, Lacan), hermenuetics (Gadamer), philosophy (Heidegger, Nietzsche), postmodern theory (Derrida, Deleuze & Guattari, Castoriadis), and mythology, Ebert teases out and delivers to consciousness the meanings hidden away in each scene. However, JDE doesn’t just tap us into the semiotic depth of Apocalypse Now―he shows us just how much meaning is packed into films in general. If one isn’t already familiar with film theory, then one will never watch a film in the same way after having read this book. Most of the time, reading theory is a very arduous enterprise, even for those of us that love it. However, this book is simply fun to read. I can’t recommend it enough.

Not a bad book, but not very helpful either. He could have made his points in a 20 page essay. His website reviews are just shorter examples of what is in here. His analysis is personal and I doubt FCC had any of these psychological or abstract ideas while making the film. Ebert tries to make a Jung vs Lacan dialectic, but it's not convincing.

I've been interested in Coppola's film since it was released in 1979. Ebert's discussion of the major sequences in the film puts it into a philosophical/mythological context that few (if any) other film commentators these days could pull off. It's a relatively short volume, and I recommend taking it slowly so as to digest the ideas and concepts he brings into the discussion. He draws out subtle details in the film that will surprise you, and virtually guarantee you'll want to go back for another screening (or two). Highly recommended.

Phenomenal book, with an excellent post-structuralist and post-existentialist; sociological and socio-anthropological analysis. It was amazing the way the film was cunningly deconstructed in order for the reader understand FFC's greatest masterpiece. Simply superb!

A great book and a great resource.

Another excellent book by John David Ebert. In this superb analysis and interpretation of the underlying discourse and concept of the film, he provides highly intelligent insights of the inner meanings (intended and otherwise) of the signifiers and philosophical and psychological analogies that the film represents in terms of roles situations and character examinations. Like having a guidebook to the film to open up the depth and contexts in ways unseen. I am now watching the film again this weekend (having seen it several years ago - again). The phrase I remember from before was the snail and the straight razor which leapt into my mind as the simplest thing and Occam's razor. The book brings so much more life to the film and in so doing so explodes the depth and understanding of John's more than capable intellect, and skill, at bringing out the relationships to in depth psychology, philosophy and cultural analysis. Worth every penny, just for that alone.

This is a really interesting book. You might already know some of John David Ebert's work from You Tube as well as other books: I bought this along with his study on Star Wars (inspired by Sloterdijk's ideas) and his Rage and the Word. In his analysis of Apocalypse Now, Ebert draws on sources that his readers (viewers) will already be familiar with (Post Structuralism, art, mythology etc) and he produces a fascinating take on the symbolism underpinning Coppola's film. I found it enjoyable and stimulating and I hope there are others to come. It would be interesting to hear what Ebert has to say about films such as; Alien, Stalker, Under the Skin etc.

Un peu decu il sagit d une description sequence par sequence ..mais aucune ce qui est bien domage

映画『地獄の黙示録』を読み解く本。初公開は1979年でしたが、本書が題材としているのは2001年の「特別完全版（Apocalypse Now Redux）」なので、その点はご注意下さい。批判理論（Critical Theory）を背景として、著者が依拠する手法は精神分析です。"Imaginary Order"、"Symbolic Order"、"castration"、"L-schema"、"Name of the Father"、"difference"といった専門用語が冒頭から大量に出てくるので、より概論的な解説を期待していた読者はその時点で落胆するかも知れません（私もそうでした）。しかし、この著者の読み解きには、最後まで付き合ってみる値打ちがありました。用語や概念には説明が加えられているため、精神分析の古典を読んでおらずとも、理解に詰まることもないでしょう。映画の物語そのものもまた、主人公ウィラードが辿る精神分析的・治療的プロセスとして読み解かれます。著者は場面ごとに（scene-by-scene）情景を再構成し、その意味を解釈しますが、写真などは一切ありません（古代エジプトの図像が二枚と19世紀の風景画が一枚載ってます）。全体を要約すると、システムに埋め込まれた不自由な存在から混沌の中で自由意志によって行動する存在への生まれ変わり。理論的には、フロイト/ラカン/ジジェク的原理に対し、ユング/ドゥルーズ&ガタリ/スローターダイク的想像力を対置させ、後者による前者の包囲・侵食・転覆の過程として捉える。映画の解釈としては、かなり完成度の高い理解だと思います。整合性があり、認識しておいて損はない。ただ、この映画の外側、つまり現実において、その解釈——システムからの解放、生まれ変わり、主体性——がどのような意味をもつのか、意味があるのか、可能なのか、可能ならばどのように？そういったことは論じられないまま、映画の解釈だけをして、本書は終わる。まぁそれは、自分の頭で考えてもいいだろう。