March 17 - The End

I can't tell you what year it was, but I can tell you what impact it had on me. I was a member of Trondheim Filmklubb (TFK) for a good number of years. I believe I started in high school, as I had two good friends, Vegard Nørstebø and Rune Sandnes, who both were members of TFK, and I was curious enough to join as well. Vegard and Rune didn't know one another, but both of them had a huge influence on my taste in movies because they inspired me to join - and I did.

A film club, at least the way they operate in Norway, is a club that books a wide range of movies for screenings - in Norway they are also part of a network, so the import and screening costs are kept down a little - and they tend to specialize in what in the US is considered Arthouse films; movies that fall outside of the mainstream. When I first joined TFK, they had matinees at 1 pm on Saturdays and Sundays, and a 11 pm screening Wednesday night - and I tried to go to all of them. Membership was inexpensive, and so were the tickets for the individual screenings.

Anyway, I really remember sinking into the chair in the movie theater to watch Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now! This was before the resurgence of the movie through Apocalypse Now! Redux and Heart of Darkness - and I really didn't quite know what to expect. However, from the first few seconds I was sucked into an experience that not only was visually spectacular, but that blended music and picture in a way that completely changed the way I looked at music in movies.

While the very first image of palm trees that suddenly catch fire is powerful enough, the part that really sticks with me is the transition from helicopter blades to a ceiling fan - and Martin Sheen's tormented Captain Willard in a hot and sticky room. And while all this is going on, The Doors are gradually building the music behind Jim Morrison's very disturbing words... "This is the end, my only friend, the end..." If I hadn't been turned on to The Doors before watching Apocalypse Now!, I certainly was after that opening scene... And all this came back to me on Tuesday, as I was sitting waiting for my breaks to get fixed and The Doors came over the sound system at the shop. The End still does it for me!

The opening scene doesn't have the same impact when it's not on the big screen, but I have included it here to show you what I am talking about.