Chaos at the Do Lung Bridge Apocalypse Now showcases the story of Captain Willard and his mission to assassinate rogue colonel Kurtz while emphasizing the overall themes of the insanity of war, the desire to escape its terror, and the overall loss of morality one experiences during warfare. These three themes are demonstrated in a variety of ways at the Do Lung Bridge in what is regarded as one of the most significant scenes in the entire film. The scene at the bridge first fades in from black to reveal an anxious Willard trudging along a trench followed by a dazed Lance, tripping on the last of his acid. The scene is shot so that the cameras are deliberately level with the crouching soldiers and film close to the characters’ faces to help the audience feel as if they are actually in Vietnam looking at Willard and the other troops in the trenches.
As Willard and Lance continue along the trenches, gunfire and bombs detonate in the
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The themes of the insanity of war and the longing for escape are combined here as the guitar from the rock music slowly alters to form an eerie, high pitched noise that represents chaos. Lance’s excessive drug abuse expresses his wish for liberation from the insanity of war as he knows he can only mentally, not physically, escape the madness through drug use. Lance and the puppy in his jacket dreamily stare at the explosion, as if they wish they could disappear from the war just like the brief flames of the detonation. The puppy in his jacket is also ironic as puppies are generally seen as little, happy, free animals while Lance and the troops are the complete opposite and are entrapped, not free, in the hell-like jungle, fighting for their lives. The puppy is symbolic for how out of place the young soldiers are and how they should not be fighting in a war at such young