Apocalypse Now
by
John Van Kirk
Henry Bowman, coming out of the premiere of Apocalypse Now, shaken by the film but profoundly intrigued by the literature behind it, having known in advance that Coppola was inspired by Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” but seeing as he watched more of Frazier’s Golden Bough, Eliot’s “The Wasteland,” and Jessie Weston’s From Ritual to Romance, seeing Brando’s Kurtz less as a crazed and monstrous procurer of ivory than as an avatar of the Fisher King… Henry wandered through the reception in the cinema lobby, took a glass of wine from a server, and abruptly found himself face to face with his estranged wife, who appeared to be with a date.
“Henry,” she said, quicker to find her voice than he was, “so… what did you think of the movie?”
“It was a romance,” he said, realizing as soon as saw the all too familiar change in her eyes that she had taken it not as the learned literary remark he had meant it to be, but as an acid comment on their marriage, a pointed attempt to cut her, a way of saying, all that violence and destruction was like what you did to me.
“Well,” she said, looking to the well-dressed man she was with, “we have to be going.” Her date, sensing the awkwardness of the moment, turned with her, and they melted into the crowd together.
Henry sighed, drained his glass in one gulp, and looked around for more wine.
“Henry,” she said, quicker to find her voice than he was, “so… what did you think of the movie?”
“It was a romance,” he said, realizing as soon as saw the all too familiar change in her eyes that she had taken it not as the learned literary remark he had meant it to be, but as an acid comment on their marriage, a pointed attempt to cut her, a way of saying, all that violence and destruction was like what you did to me.
“Well,” she said, looking to the well-dressed man she was with, “we have to be going.” Her date, sensing the awkwardness of the moment, turned with her, and they melted into the crowd together.
Henry sighed, drained his glass in one gulp, and looked around for more wine.
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