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Captain Benjamin L. Willard is the main protagonist of the 1979 epic psychological war film Apocalypse Now. He is based on the character Marlow from the novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.
He was portrayed by the legendary actor Martin Sheen.
History[]
In 1969, Willard was ordered by command to journey up the Nung river and assassinate Colonel Walter E. Kurtz. He boards a PBR Street Gang led by Chief George Phillips, and accompanied by Lance, Chef, and Mr. Clean.
Later, Willard rendezvous with Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore to discuss going upriver. Though reluctant at first, Kilgore accepts when he takes an interest in Lance, who is a surfer. Willard witnesses Kilgore commit several war crimes, including attacking a Vietnamese village filled with defenceless civilians and ravaging the village with napalm. Disturbed by Kilgore’s warmongering and bloodlust, he and his crew sneak away unbeknownst to Kilgore.
Willard and his crew later stop off at a Playboy Bunnies’ Stadium in Hou Phat held to entertain US troops. Willard angrily demands that fuel be given for his boat before the show begins. The show, though entertaining at first, soon erupts into violence, with Willard and his men being forced to leave. They continue their journey up the river.
During their upriver journey, Willard’s crew meet a small boat full of Vietnamese citizens. Suspicious of their motives, Clean fires at the boat, killing all but a young woman. The young woman turns out to simply having wanted to protect her pet puppy, who Lance soon adopts as his own. The woman, though wounded, is still alive, and the crew demand she be taken to hospital. Willard, not wanting to be deterred from his mission, callously shoots her dead.
At nightfall, the group approached the Do Lung Bridge outpost where everyone has gone insane. The next day, Lance sets off a smoke grenade, causing a camoflauged enemy to fire at the group, resulting in Mr. Clean's death. Further upriver, natives attack the group with spears, and Chief is impaled. Willard suffocates Chief when he tries to impale him.
Willard finally arrives at Kurtz's hideout where they find some US Army men who have joined Kurtz's cause. After being tortured by Kurtz's tribe for several days, Willard enters the temple and hacks Kurtz to death with a machete. After Willard emerges from the temple with Kurtz's belongings, the tribe bows down to him. Willard then gets back on the boat with Lance and they motor away.
Trivia[]
- Martin Sheen received critical acclaim for his role as Captain Willard.
- Martin Sheen actually suffered a heart attack amidst filming Apocalypse Now and almost died. Sheen miraculously survived and considered this moment a turning point in his life, turning away from his previous alcoholic and hedonistic lifestyle and mellowing as a result.
- Harvey Keitel was previously cast as Benjamin Willard, until Coppola believed he wasn’t right for the part and recast Sheen in the role.