Films are filled with obvious explicit messages and more hidden implicit messages that you must look a little deeper to find. Then you have the "Easter egg." The phrase itself is shrouded in mystery as it relates to media. One theory is that it has roots in Atari and the video game world, coined by one of two Atari software developers, either Steven Wright or Warren Robinett. Another is that the actual egg hunt in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" inspired the expression. The term alludes to needing to dig around quite a bit to find a hidden surprise, purposely left there by creators.
The 1997 film "Good Will Hunting" gives viewers the chance to go hunting themselves for a few Easter eggs. One, however, is layered like a Christopher Nolan narrative. The Easter egg is a quote from a documentary about another film. That's three layers of movies we're discussing, for those keeping count.
Here's the scene in question. See if you can spot it.
Brando Swallows A Bug
pdir="ltr">Asadevicetoleavethescene,Morgan(CaseyAffleck)usestheline,"Iswallowedabug."ThelineisareferencetoanouttakefromFrancisFordCoppola's1979warepic"ApocalypseNow."WhenMarlonBrandofilmedhisintensemonologueasthederangedColonelKurz,abugflewintohismouthtowhichhedeadpanned,"Iswallowedabug."/p>pdir="ltr">Theouttakehasbecomeafavoriteforfansofthedocumentaryaboutthemakingofthefilm,"HeartsofDarkness,"anddeservedlyso.Here'sMarlonBrando,oneofTimeMagazine'sahref="http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/,9171,26473,.html">Top1Personsofthe2thCentury/a>,deliveringperhapsthemostintensesetoflinesinallof197sAmericancinema,witharesponsesostraight-facedtothemomentthatitcouldhaveremainedinthemovie./p>pdir="ltr">"HeartsofDarkness"isasintenseasthemovieitstudies.Thedocumentary followsCoppola'sownjourneyintomadnessintryingtocompletethefilm.AsLooperpointsoutahref="https://www.looper.com/9774/untold-truth-apocalypse-now/">here/a>,the1-yearprocesstomake"ApocalypseNow"wasplaguedwithproduction,budget,andactorissuesthatnearlybankruptedCoppola.Despitethesetbacks,TheGuardianahref="https://www.theguardian.com/film/21/oct/19/apocalypse-now-coppola-action">anointed/a>"ApocalypseNow"asthegreatestactionandwarfilmofalltime./p>pdir="ltr">Youcanviewtheouttakeforyourselfatthe1:mark:/p>pdir="ltr">[embed=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHDjbsydWI4]/p>
The Film Is The Easter Egg
"Good Will Hunting" feels like an Easter egg in and of itself. The Academy Award-winning film was written by two unknowns who would each become Hollywood A-listers. Matt Damon initially conceived the script for a random elective course at Harvard University. He would then ask friend and fellow actor Ben Affleck to develop the screenplay with him. A film written by two unknown actors somehow got discovered and went on to win two Oscars (Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor, Robin Williams), with seven additional nominations.
According to The Easter Egg Archive, additional "Good Will Hunting" eggs include praising the book "A People's History of The United States: 1492 - 1992" which was written by a Damon family friend, and referencing the phone number to an actual construction company that Damon worked for in high school.
A final Easter egg buried in the credits includes a nod to the real-life Skylar who inspired Minnie Driver's character in the film. Damon's girlfriend when he wrote the first draft of the script, also named Skylar and also a medical student, receives a thank you in the closing credits. The real Skylar, as MTV News confirmed, would go on to marry Metallica's Lars Ulrich.
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The post The Apocalypse Now Easter Egg in Goodwill Hunting You May Not Have Noticed appeared first on /Film.
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