"Saigon........S*t,I'm still only in Saigon" Martin Sheen,Apocalypse Now Dir:Francis Ford Coppola

Alfred Hitchcock always said "tension is the mother of a good film,atmosphere is the oxygen that keeps it breathing".
When I first sat down and watched Apocalypse Now,all those years ago,the scene set,a hotel room in Saigon,air con fan spinning,segued from the spinning rotor blades of a Huey helicopter,I could taste,smell and completely feel the tension of the Vietnam conflict.A dirty war,a seedy war,the first war we could watch live on the morning news.Coppola captured that tension,that atmosphere perfectly.The lone soldier,begging to get back into the jungle,getting softer by the minute.
I have always thought the opening line of an article should set the scene for what follows,and in most situations,I think the same can be said for a movie.As a writer it is surely the hardest part:the first line.What direction will it take me in?The success can be measured in the fact that you are instantly there,you experience it first hand,you feel the event.The opening line of Apocalypse Now provides on all fronts.Enjoy.

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