MovieChat Forums > Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991) Discussion > Animal slaughter.

Animal slaughter.

posted 16 years ago by ptstannard
4 replies | jump to latest

It has been many years since I saw this documentary, but I seem to remember a cow getting beheaded (which I believe is in the actual movie) and also some pigs getting sliced up and squealing*. I wonder if these scenes will make the cut to DVD, because although the cow seemed not to suffer, the pig scene was particular difficult to watch. To the point where I don't much relish the thought of seeing it again. Is it as bad as I remember?

* I want to point out that it's the natives that perform the animal rituals / slaughtering, not the crew or actors. So I can safely assume it wasn't done per Coppola's request, but captured as an everyday occurrence?

[–] twofold420 16 years ago

the pigs were not in the movie but the caribou was. and no, it was not done by the director's request. they were going to do it anyway, so coppala decided to use it for his film. anyway, that was the most powerful scene in them film so, I'm glad he used it.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 20thCentury 15 years ago

No pigs in apocalypse that i can recall - its something i would remember. Could you be mistaking it with "southern comfort", near the ending, at that cajun gathering? The army uniforms were from the same period. The two slaughtered pigs were supposed to be the possible preview of the two soldier's fate.

I already know we're animals, so dont think we need to be reminded of the worst aspects, like how little respect is afforded to helpless animals in distress - unless the intent is to shock us into realizing we dont really need to eat meat as much as we do.

[–] Katz5 15 years ago

The pig slaughter was in the documentary but not in the final movie. The caribou was in the final movie, which was intercut with scenes of Willard attacking Kurtz.

There were pigs butchered in Southern Comfort--down to the intestines. Hard to watch but like Apocalypse, intercut with the action sequence at the end of the film and symbolic to what's happening to the characters played by Keith Carradine and Powers Boothe.

Dude means nice guy. Dude means a regular sort of person.