"I loved every minute of my six months long ‘Apocalypse Now’ experience."
- Bonnie Adams
- Jul 23
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 24
Interview with Chas Gerretsen, award winning Dutch photojournalist and photographer, who was asked by Francis Ford Coppola to document the
making of Apocalypse Now.
Working with Francis Coppola and Vittorio Storaro on Apocalypse Now. was one of the biggest pleasures of your life. You learned more about filmmaking on this film than in 15 years working on other films. On the first day of being on the set, Francis said he had a bad dream about you and said that you were on a month trial period. There is no doubt that you were accomplished and the winner of the Robert Capa Gold Medal Award. How did you gain his trust?
Francis didn’t have a ‘bad’ dream about me, he said he had ‘a dream.’ Francis said something like: ”I had a dream about you last night. I was hanging by your camera strap, from the highest balcony of a 30-story skyscraper.” He said this and left.
Trust? Every couple of days my undeveloped film was sent for development to L.A. and returned the following day. First to Lee Beaupre, the publicist/marketing director, then to Francis and then to Vittorio Storaro. Apparently they were all satisfied with my work.
You have said that Apocalypse Now was similar to the Vietnam War but without the actual body count. Francis recreating the insanity of war spilled over to the personal lives of the cast and crew. What do you think pushed many to the edge?
Being in a culture they didn’t understand, in a climate they didn’t like, being separated from their friends and loved ones. Many felt that they were separated from the ‘world’. And there was always the insecurity of what we were going to film the next day. The early morning call sheets usually would describe the scenes to be filmed that day, but on Apocalypse Now they read: ‘Scenes various.’
The images you captured are full of emotions, exquisite, intense detail, haunting, and bursting with color. You shot over 2000 frames. Tell us about your favorites.
I do not think I have a favorite; all the photographs bring back memories. The photograph which for me has the strongest memories attached is that of ‘the little boy blowing bubbles’, indifferent to the dead bodies stacked beside him. It reminds me of a scene during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam in 1968. Several boys, around the age of ten, were playing soldier, one even wore a little camouflaged uniform. During a previous firefight a number of civilians had been killed. Their bodies lay spread out in the street. The dead had not yet been removed and were of no concern to the boys; they didn’t know them and used them for cover as they played and fired their plastic M16 rifles at each other. Later I saw children cry and pulling at the remains of fallen loved ones. Not much different than what I see today.
About the number of images I took on the set: I believe that I made in total about 4000 images, color and black & white. Of those United Artists got all b & w and many color. I still have about 1500 slides.
The "Ride of the Valkyries" helicopter scene was the most difficult of any film Francis had done. The helicopters were borrowed from President Marcos. Since the Philippines were in a war with rebels 10 miles from the set, some helicopters often had to leave while shooting. How did you get the helicopter shots in a time where drones were not available?
I didn’t get any birds eye view shots. There were two major locations. The first one ("Ride of the Valkyries") was wiped out by a hurricane, and all the crew returned to the US. Most of the helicopter work was done at the first location. I replaced the original photographer when the production restarted in Pagsanjan.
There were many talented actors working on Apocalypse Now. What was your experience with them?
Personally, I had no trouble with any of the actors; it was a good experience. They were all very willing to work with me and they were all professional. It seemed they wanted to help, and they believed in Francis. When I asked them to pose in certain situations they did it, even Marlon Brando, of whom I was warned that he didn’t like photographers, was easy to work with after our first ‘disagreement.’ I don’t know how to explain it, my first run-in with Brando was when I asked him to look up. He replied heatedly, “Don’t you dare try to direct me.” The scene was Brando reading the magazine, children behind him, (I have a b&w print still in possession from my ‘first and only disagreement with Brando, see above photo 0022)
After that, we worked well together. He didn’t want to be photographed during filming, but after he was finished, he would give me five minutes to photograph him.
Do you have any exhibitions where people can see your work in person?
At the moment a couple of my images which I had taken in Chile during the coup d'état, on September 11, 1973, are exhibited in Panama City in the ‘Museo de la Libertad,’ ‘Museum of Liberty.’ There are three life-size photos of that fateful day in the Human Rights Museum in Santiago, Chile. The images are etched in glass and a continuous exhibition since the opening of the museum. You can get a glimpse of my retrospective at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlfvBIhKN9U the video was made in the Forum Groningen, NL in 2023.
Instagram, Hollywood https://www.instagram.com/chasgerretsenhollywood/
Instagram, photojournalism https://www.instagram.com/chasgerretsenphoto/
Documentary (2019): “Dutch Angle: Chas Gerretsen & Apocalypse Now” When Francis Ford Coppola released the Blu-ray disc set of the “Final Cut” he included this documentary in the collection. You can see the doc here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FqRn6sSmPc
Website:
My books:
Apocalypse Now ISBN: 978-3-7913-8808-3 Bookstore order links: https://prestelpublishing.penguinrandomhouse.de/Prestel-Publishing/Partner-bookshops-USA/aid27522_5952.rhd
Starring Chas Gerretsen ISBN: 9789462264069 https://lecturis.nl/en/product/starring-chas-gerretsen-kopie/ exhibition catalogue published by the Netherlands Photo museum (NFM)
CHILE. The Photo Archive 1973-1974 ISBN: 9789462264847 https://lecturis.nl/en/product/chile-the-photo-archive-1973-74/