Movies and life

My Dad has said that Apocalypse Now reflects his own experience of the Vietnam War. I would not have expected this; when I saw the film I thought it was too stylized and formalist to reflect an authentic experience. I was a naive college boy, though! However much a hothouse flower the film may be it reflects, or perhaps more accurately resonates with, my Father's experience.

It's interesting how a film can do that via poetic rather than documentary means. One reason I love Texas Chainsaw is that it reminds me of how I felt during the year I spent as a carpet cleaner, constantly going into unfamiliar homes which were often populated by erratic, fearful, angry or lonely people. Perhaps I'll share some of the more amusingly sordid tales; although no one ever threatened me with a chainsaw I learned quite a bit about human variety, as well as human frailty.