The Horror

The year was 1979.

The 80’s were approaching. Personal computers, the end of the Cold War, and amazing hair metal 

bands were on the cusp of infiltrating radio waves and hair salons everywhere.

But before any of the glories of the 80’s could happen- Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam masterpiece Apocalypse Now had to be robbed of winning Best Picture.

Coppola didn’t just have a good film this year either by the way. He had a huge DECADE. He co-wrote Patton, the 1970 Best Picture winner and directed The Godfather Parts 1 and 2, which won best picture in 1970 and 1972 respectively.

Apocalypse Now was a well-documented film. The budget was insanely huge, it took way too long to complete, there were a lot of offscreen mess-ups and the actors didn’t get along with each other.

But for what it was worth, the film was a triumph.

Vietnam was the most polarizing and explosive time in our nation’s history up until that point. And the film represented the experiences of war, and the Vietnam struggle for what they are. Dark, visceral, scary, and often times disturbing.

Honestly, if you have not seen this movie, please do. It isn’t just a movie. It is a glimpse into the face of war, a look into the catastrophe which violence causes and it is one of the greatest films of all time.

With that being said, the movie which did win Best Picture in 1979 was Kramer v Kramer.

Kramer v Kramer was a film starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep. Two of the most well-known actors of all-time in their primes (even though Streep is still going ridiculously hard today).  Kramer was not as violent. It was not as disturbing. And it wasn’t as gripping. But it was an important film nevertheless.

Kramer v Kramer was a film about a couple struggling for the custody of their child. The film was the first major picture to bring the issue of divorce and its effect on children to the mainstream. Just as much as Apocalypse Now was about an important event in our nation’s history, so was Kramer v Kramer. The Divorce rate in America doubled from 1960 to 1980.

This left a lot of kids and families hurting. Kramer V Kramer resonated more with audiences going through the pains of separation. Apocalypse Now on the other hand brought up a time that most Americans wanted to forget.

But even still, the film is beautifully dark. It makes you almost feel that you were in Vietnam.

Napalm was featured heavily in the film during war scenes. 

And I believe that is why it didn’t win. It was too real. It represented the ugly side of humanity. It showed all of the horror which could occur.

But that’s why it should have won. It was not Hollywood trying to educate America about a problem in a dramatic way. It was Coppola giving Hollywood and the world a look into how insane war is. How insane we all can be when faced with horror.

Sources

The Evolution of Divorce- W. Bradford Wilcox

http://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/the-evolution-of-divorce

Poster

Free to use
Napalm

Andrew LCPL Pendracki, 2003

http://www.imdb.com/