Spoiler
Alert: I'm going to give the ending away. This I do in
order to offer the product of my own mind: a better ending. Well, you
be the judge of that. Oh, and while I'm at it, I'll put – at the
very end – my proposed ending for Apocalypse Now.
Sorry, Francis Ford, but your ending was horrible.
First
things, first
Before
I reveal my better ending, here are some comments more typical of a
run-of-the-mill movie review. Whoever cast Tilda Swinton in the
female lead deserves a medal. Swinton was magnificent and the perfect
counterpart to Tom Hiddleston's brooding gothic. This was a long
movie, much of it focused on these two. They anchored it well, which
suited the total lack of the hyper-kinetic action which most
audiences expect these days. Adam wore well the face of
world-weariness and Eve (much older than Adam) tried to give him some
anchoring perspective. So as the movie unfolded, any introduction of
violence or even pulse-quickening action would have been
anti-thematic.
“Lovers”
was beautiful to look at, so fans of elegant cinematography won't be
disappointed. And the humor was soft-spoken and unobtrusive though
fitting.
The
actual ending
Adam
and Eve (Tom and Tilda) are vampires living an ocean apart – he's
in Detroit and she's in Tangier, Morocco. They've been married to
each other for over 100 years and are both centuries older than that.
Eve visits Adam in Detroit, with both of them ending up having to
flee to her place in Tangiers. Then disaster strikes – her source
for blood (another vampire played by John Hurt) dies soon after their
arrival.
As
they ponder their fate on some rooftop, they spy a young couple
making out. They decide to “transform” them but not kill them.
The movie ends with them approaching the young couple. Eve says,
“Excuse me,” just before the last shot of them baring their
fangs.
My
proposed ending
As
Adam and Eve spy this young couple, Adam says, “I wish I had a sign
telling us what we should do.” Then we hear a cassette tape playing
from the street below, “Here comes the sun” by the Beatles.
Adam's
face contorts as he listens and considers this song. He turns to Eve
and says, “I'm tired of taking decisions away from unsuspecting
people. Who am I to say they should become like us, just to satisfy
my own needs?”
Eve:
“But we'll die if we don't take this opportunity.”
Adam:
“Is death really so bad?”
Eve:
“If you believe God exists, death for us could end up being quite
horrible.”
Adam
thinks about that for a moment and says, “If God exists and wants
to punish us, why don't we simply ask Him to dis-create us? You know,
erase us as if we'd never been created.”
Eve:
“That's novel. How will you persuade Him to do that?”
Adam:
“I'll say, why keep us in existence only to inflict an infinity of
suffering upon us? Wouldn't that make you the greatest terrorist of
all time?”
Eve
[laughs]: “Oh, that's going to be good for points.”
Adam:
“What's He going to do if my words offend Him – punish us for
eternity?”
Eve:
“And if there is no God, but only reincarnation to look forward
to?”
Adam:
“Maybe we've put off reincarnation too long. Maybe we need the
shock of death to rattle our arrogant, complacent selves into a new
awareness.”
Eve
[pauses]: “I'll go whichever way you go. Lead on.”
The
next scene shows them both sitting by the water's edge just before
sunrise. Eve turns to Adam and says, “Do you have any regrets?”
Adam:
“Mostly that I wasn't as charitable as I could have been.”
Eve:
“Charitable?”
Adam:
“Every time I think of how much money I gave that doctor for blood,
I think of money that could have helped someone in need. But, no, I
had to give it to that blood sucker.”
Eve
[laughs]: “He was the worst of the blood suckers, wasn't he.”
Adam
[as the camera slowly pulls away]: “He most certainly was.”
“Here
Comes the Sun” starts playing as the sun rims over the horizon –
and Adam and Eve both burst into flame.
Apocalypse
Now
When
Captain Willard fails to call in that he, as assigned, killed Colonel
Kurtz, the USAF commences a carpet bombing of the temple complex
where the rogue army is holed up. As soon as the first bombs hit, the
ground splits open and swallows Willard and Kurtz into a labyrinth of
tunnels under the complex. After the bombs stop, we see Willard and
Kurtz staring at each other, sprawled on the ground.
Kurtz
stands up and tries to wipe the dust off his clothes. He says, “Your
army has just wiped out my army. So I have no more army.”
Willard
continues the thought “My army showed it was willing to kill me to
get at you. So I have no more army.”
[pause]
Kurtz considers this, extends his hand toward Willard and
says, “We need to talk.”
*
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Steven
Searle, just another member of the
Virtual
Samgha of the Lotus and
former
candidate for USA President (in 2008 & 2012)
Contact
me
at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com
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