Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)

[flyonthewall2983]

Did the ASPCA ever chime in about the water buffalo being sacrificed?

[aox]

Did the ASPCA ever chime in about the water buffalo being sacrificed?

My understanding is "no". While abhorrent to many(?) in the west, the local indigenous tribe was planning to sacrifice the animal anyway, and Coppola was merely told he could tag along and caught the tribe's sacrificial ritual on camera. Plus, it was unplanned and deep in the jungle in the Philippines in the late-70s. It seems even the British censors didn't have a problem with it.

[MichaelB]

It doesn’t appear to infringe the 1937 Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act because even if it was carried out specifically for the film the BBFC regards clean kills as not infringing the “visible infliction of pain” or “cruel goading of an animal to fury” tests - and it’s only those that are legally problematic.

[MichaelB]

Out of curiosity, I looked this up on the BBFC website to see if they’d included a case study on the film, and they had.

This is the salient bit:

One element of the film still contains the ability to startle, however. In the final, bravura sequence Kurtz’s assassin fulfils his role, armed with a large machete. The slaying of the ‘sacred’ figure Kurtz is inter-cut with the actual ritual slaughter of a bullock by a local tribe, many of whom had been acting as extras on location in the Philippines. This powerful sequence is central to the ending and the film’s themes, as a whole, but raised the problem of animal cruelty and the Act of Parliament relating to it. The Cinematograph (Animals) Act 1937 was designed to prevent animals from being used as live and disposable props in films. In the heyday of the Western, for example, many horses were destroyed after being injured in stunts that involved them being tripped and felled for dramatic effect. Coppola’s film startled American audiences on a number of accounts, the dramatic ending sequence being among them.

The RSPCA wrote to the Director of the BBFC expressing concern at the scene prior to the film’s release in the UK. James Ferman seems to have informed them that he was of the view that this appeared to be an actual ritual slaughter which was not orchestrated solely for the purposes of the film and therefore did not fall foul of the Act. Also, he was of the opinion that the animal was killed very quickly and therefore humanely, another allowance under the Act.

In the recent DVD release of the work Coppola took some pains to stress that he did not arrange for the animal to be slaughtered for the film and that the ritual was one of many serendipitous events in the making of the film.

[Mr Sausage]

The fact that Coppola and co. didn’t plan that scene for the film is shown by the awkward insert of Timothy Bottoms spreading blood on an obviously fake bull.

[flyonthewall2983]

Barks Azman’s documentary short Dutch Angle: Chas Gerretsen & Apocalypse Now is on MUBI, and comes highly recommended. He comes off as intense no doubt because of his life experiences as a photographer that lent itself to what Coppola was going for. His praise for the cast and crew is genuine and the photographs of the film's production featured throughout add another dimension of knowledge that adds to my love of this film.

[flyonthewall2983]

I’d love it if they reissued the soundtrack including whatever outtakes and odds and sods that were produced during the very interesting time of the films post production. When I saw it the first time I wasn’t really sure at first I’d enjoy the electronics of it but by the time the helicopters take flight I better understood the way the tonalities were in sync with Willard’s state of mind.

[flyonthewall2983]

I’m reading Sam Wasson’s The Path to Paradise, largely about the making of AN. Very fascinating how it breaks up the substance of the Hearts of Darkness doc with the minutiae a documentary would have to be extended into series form to cover. Coppola’s “eureka!” moments in how to shape the story, are both a little inspiring and also a little terrifying in how out of control the proportions of the shoot got.

[beamish14]

I’m reading Sam Wasson’s The Path to Paradise, largely about the making of AN. Very fascinating how it breaks up the substance of the Hearts of Darkness doc with the minutiae a documentary would have to be extended into series form to cover. Coppola’s “eureka!” moments in how to shape the story, are both a little inspiring and also a little terrifying in how out of control the proportions of the shoot got.

It’s a really compelling book. The details into Zoetrope’s formation and the tantalizing glimpses of all those unmade projects from Carroll Ballard and Matthew Robbins/Hal Barwood, and John Korty is so sad.

I’m listening to the audiobook, though, and the narrator’s mispronunciations are driving me nuts

[Blip Martindale]

It’s a really compelling book. The details into Zoetrope’s formation and the tantalizing glimpses of all those unmade projects from Carroll Ballard and Matthew Robbins/Hal Barwood, and John Korty is so sad.

I’m listening to the audiobook, though, and the narrator’s mispronunciations are driving me nuts

Any details about the unmade Ballard films?

[beamish14]

It’s a really compelling book. The details into Zoetrope’s formation and the tantalizing glimpses of all those unmade projects from Carroll Ballard and Matthew Robbins/Hal Barwood, and John Korty is so sad.

I’m listening to the audiobook, though, and the narrator’s mispronunciations are driving me nuts

Any details about the unmade Ballard films?

I think it’s briefly mentioned that it was a war movie, but not Vietnam-related.

Interestingly, Zoetrope’s original dictum was that the company would exclusively develop original properties and not adaptations