Apocalypse Now
I have always enjoyed movies. But at some point I started to think of movies as more than just entertainment. I began to view them as a movie critic would, rather than just a casual viewer. Because of this perspective, I think of "Apocalypse Now" as one of the best American made movies I have ever seen. As a student of and an active participant in the late twentieth century media age, I feel justified in making this statement. In my lifetime of observation of American media, including fourteen months of intense movie watching in conjunction with my employment at a local video store, I have had an opportunity to observe a broad sampling of the films, and feel more than qualified to make this statement. By referring to "Apocalypse Now" as one of the best American movies, I do not want to diminish my praise for the movie, but rather, acknowledge the fact that my knowledge of foreign movies is limited. I first saw Francis Ford Coppula's "Apocalypse Now" in a high school literature class after reading Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the story from which the movie was derived. After viewing the movie the first time, it was clear to me that "Apocalypse Now" was something special, not only superior to the mindless drivel that permeates
Coppula's movie can also be viewed in a moral context. I viewed this movie as a documentary of a journey into hell, not unlike Dante's Divine Comedy, but more similar in form to the Greek myth of Orpheus. Orpheus was the Greek musician who journeyed into Hades after the death of his wife. He convinced Pluto to release his wife, but he had to return to the world of the living without looking behind him. Unfortunately, Orpheus looked behind him and was banished from Hades. After being dismembered by the Cult of Dionysus he was forced to spend eternity as a disembodied head. I saw the journey of Willard as a parallel of Orpheus's journey. Hades was typically entered by the river Styx, and the gates of Hades were guarded by a dog, metaphorically similar to the puppy found by Lanced before they passed into North Viet Nam. Like Orpheus, Willard, after facing Kurtz/Pluto, could neither return to the army, or stay in the world of Kurtz. Though the movie is structurally similar to Orpheus in tone, it is more similar to the work of Dante in that, in it, a clear outsider enters a world for a mission, and observes the differences between that world and his own. By looking at the movie in the context of Orpheus, or Dante, I see a religious and moral connotations to the actions of the characters. Viewing the movie in such a manner, I am forced to pass a moral judgment on the war as it was waged by the United States Army versus how the war was waged by Kurtz. It is this type of analysis which I find exciting. In my studies, as well as with many of my interests, I always enjoy looking deeper into the meaning of the material being presented. I want to understand all of what the author, or film maker, or artist is trying to communicate. "Apocalypse Now" is such an excellent m
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1194
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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