Good Morning Vietnam And Apocalypse Now Comparison Film Studies Essay

In the film “Good Morning, Vietnam” Adrian Cronauer is described, who arrives in Saigon in 1965 to take the place of a disc jockey at the local military station. He immediately turns upside down the boring routine radio into the exquisite rock and roll, and adds a sharp sense of humor, becoming a legend among the soldiers, and a headache for authorities. In his spare time from the radio shows, Adrian meets with Vietnamese girls, drinking beer and having fun, but only until the moment when he leaves the restaurant and it explodes. He realizes that Vietnam is not a resort, there is a war where people are dying, and about which he is strictly forbidden to speak on the radio because of strict censorship. He tries to tell the truth, but gets an advice at first “not to spoil the format”, and then he is sent home. Adrian is leaving, but on the way to the aircraft he no longer sees the funny guys, but those, who will die soon…

The main plotline of the movie “Apocalypse Now” is the story of Special Forces of Captain Willard, who was sent to the jungles of Cambodia to eliminate the insane Colonel Kurtz, who commands a detachment of local residents and accused of killing several Vietnamese. During the trip to Willard occurred a lot of strange events, and under the influence of the environment he is the closer to the goal of gradually losing the sense of reality and ceases to understand what to do next. Many critics believe that the film, as Joseph Conrad’s novella, takes the viewer deep into the human psyche, and the war is only a backdrop for the manifestation of those human qualities that usually do not lie on the surface. And the film “Good Morning, Vietnam” describes Vietnam in 1965 – yet relaxing resort with hot sun, beautiful girls and freely by the service. But one morning there is a deafening explosion… Adrian Cronauer immediately became the enemy of high officials. And indeed, the humorist with the jokes and unpredictable behavior is a real threat to military discipline. But when on the radio there is heard his famous greeting “Good Morning, Vietnam!”, it seems that in this sunny country will never come the night …

The movie “Apocalypse Now” after its premiere in 1979 caused many conflicting responses from the audience – some enthusiastically praised the movie, while others showered it with abuse. Some critics wrote that the movie is too pretentious, others said that the film ends unclearly. On the other hand, Roger Ebert, who declared “Apocalypse Now” the best film of 1979 and added it to your list of great films, wrote: “Apocalypse Now” is the best film about Vietnam, and one of the greatest ever filmed, because he moves much farther than everyone else in the dark corners of human soul. It is not so much about the war, but about how the war drags on the surface of a truth about the people that they would prefer to never know. As a fact, the film “Good Morning, Vietnam” received the awards, such as Golden Globe Award for Best Actor (Musical or Comedy) -to Robin Williams, the film was also nominated for an Oscar in the category “Best Actor (Robin Williams) and a nominee for “British Academy of Film”, in the categories of Best Actor (Robin Williams), and “”Best Sound”. And a film “Apocalypse Now” received such awards as Cannes Film Festival: Grand Prize (“Golden Palm”), 1979; Oscar for Best Cinematography, 1980; Oscar for best sound, 1980; Golden Globe Award for Best Director (Francis F. Coppola), 1980; Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor (Robert Duvall), 1980, and Golden Globe Award for best music for the film (Carmine Coppola and Francis F. Coppola), 1980.

The film “Apocalypse Now” became widely known in the press long before its release due to the long and difficult process of filming. Coppola’s wife Eleanor later wrote a book that talked about how the film was shot, and she also participated in the creation of the documentary film “Heart of Darkness: Apocalypse movie maker”, which tells about the making of the film.

Both films “Apocalypse Now” and “Good Morning, Vietnam” have described the Vietnam War from different angles. These films have common stories lines and different views and understanding of the details of the war. Both films show the sad reality of the war, despite the fact that the directors use the different approaches to describe the war.