Nil by Mouth

I went and saw Apocalypse

I went and saw Apocalypse Now Redux (courtesy of the chopping block) at my local french art movie house. In France they are all art movie houses (rad). It has almost an hour of new footage and weighs in at apx three and half hours now. Luckily the seats in the theater are wayyyy comfy (rad). The thing cost me 25FRF (apx $3USD) owing to me being under 25 yrs (fucking rad). The last time i saw Apocalypse Now it was on video on a 14″ TV in a teeny and sweltering east village closet… err.. apt that i lived in one summer. Far different viewing experiences. But both were scary and claustrophobic in a way. This time was better, way better. Also when you’ve been struggling to communicate in a foreign language, seeing a film in good-ole-american is a breath of fresh air, kinda.

I think Apocalypse Now is brilliant. The new scenes are really perfect too. I thought since it had been nearly 5 years since i had last seen it i wouldn’t be able to distinguish the new stuff. But it’s a testament to how good it was the first time around that i remembered every part that i had seen before.

It was hard to not pay attention to the subtitles so i tried to use it as a french exercise. I learned a couple new words, which i have promptly forgotten. I was mostly struck by how shitty subtitles are. One particularly egregious example, when Robert Duvall asks how one of the gunners on his helicopters is feeling before they go out and blow a Vietnamese village to dust, he replies, “Like a mean mutherfucker, SIR!” The subtitle translation is “Ca Va!”

grr… it can only mean worse for English subtitles. I better light a fire under my french.

Anyway, it was a hard movie to see alone. Three and half hours and then no one to have a stiff drink and talk it over with. It was late Sunday night so i wasn’t inclined to take my chances alone somewhere. I like seeing movies alone usually, but this one was tough. It certainly is getting a bit lonely out here i must confess. I’ll leave the more artistic discussions of the film for a night out over a coupla stiff drinks. But on a personal note the film made me miss two things kind of poignantly. The first is Burning Man which i will be unable to attend this year due to severe distance. But to be frank, i was kind of waiting for an excuse to skip it because last year’s weather really took a toll on me, and i think i camped in a situation that was really less than ideal for me. The movie is, of course, like a big acid trip. Which makes sense since from what i’ve read, practically everyone involved was tripping balls the entire time. And anyway, sheeet, i wanna go play in the crazy scary trippy desert, wah!

The second is men. Lots of sweaty macho male bodies in this one obviously. It’s been a long time that I’ve been single now, actually the longest since I first started dating. And there’s something about guys really. The physical differences, i miss it. The square shoulders, the curve of biceps, an icing of chesthair… If only they weren’t such a goddamn pain!

On that note, a bietot! I might work a bit now. more later, mes amis.

• Aug 6