They Call Them Classics For A Reason

Last night, E and I watched Apocolypse Now.

Wow. Gorgeous. Insightful. Funny. Real. Surreal. Humans at war are amazingly fascinating animals. Coppola gets flawed humans. But, I don't know if I ever appreciated how much he got the art of moviemaking before. Italian music and scenery begs to be artistically rendered, in my opinion. So the Godfathers are some of my favorite movies, but I don't know if I gave Coppola enough credit.

This time around, though, the soundtrack of the Doors' hit me hard. I had history with that music. It was mine from a different time and meaning. Yet it was juxtaposed against the powerful bits of this movie such that I will never hear some of those songs again without a completely different response.

Also, Martin Sheen has one of the greatest voices ever bestowed upon a man. Damn. I couldn't get over the seduction of his slightly gravelly, introverted, supremely cast vocal chords. Hilariously, the modern child in me found myself thinking at odd points, "Wow, he looks just like Emilio in that shot," but then at others, I'd think, "How could I have thought he resembled Emilio, he looks like he is pure Charlie here."

Overall, we were very pleased that we listened to the wisdom of the ages and let such an acknowledged classic slowly rise to the top of our Netflix queue. At 2 hours 33 minutes, it stayed in the house for at least 2 months before we could find the time to watch it. I am embarrassed to admit that it had become almost a chore to be completed so we could be rewarded with a shorter, less onerous Netflix. We even contemplated sending it back unwatched.

I am very glad we persevered.

(Regardless, I'm still not finishing Ulysses.)