Apocalypse Now vs. Heart of Da
Francis Coppola's Apocalypse Now dramatically displays a variety of the shocking, devastating, and bizarre emotions experienced by victims of the Vietnam War. Viewers are able to feel the horror and madness of the war as eccentric images of Hell repeat themselves upon Captain Willard's arrival to Kurtz's station. As Willard reaches his destination, the evidence of insanity grows as the presence of Natives present themselves awkward to the audience and to the actors. In connection to the novel Heart of Darkness, this Hollywood production revives the enigma of Willard's mission using effective sound effects, images and props. Apocalypse Now adequately recaptures the horror, madness, sensuousness and the moral dilemmas displayed in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness in a visually appeasing way. Images of horror and madness greet Captain Willard as he approaches Kurtz's station. The eerie 'tribal dance' performed by one of the soldiers on board the boat foreshadows the madness and horror of what is to come. The half-naked natives seen standing in war canoes are as silent as the jungle. It is the type of silence that could make one go insane. Madness is everywhere. The natives run at the sound of the siren which, like the native's c
ry, arose with terrifying shrillness that "pierced the still air like a sharp arrow flying straight to the very heart of the land" (Conrad, 100). As the natives ran, "the bushes shook, the grass swayed for a time, and then everything stood still in attentive immobility." (Conrad, 100). Again, a sense of madness is displayed as the actors and audiences question the purpose of the natives' silent stare. For the same purpose, Francis Coppola has them silently "come up from the ground" (Conrad, 100) to take Willard hostage. It is as if the natives are dead souls reaching out to drag Willard into their circle of death. The horrid images of dead bodies hanging naked from trees parallel to the "symbolic" (Conrad, 97) heads that Marlow sees at the station. They add to the feel of death, horror and Hell as "the place was full of bodies" (Willard). Kurtz's madness is everywhere: he threatens to kill the fools (Journalist/Russian) over a minor issue. To further illustrate this, the Journalist says: It is often said that men do not return from war as the same person because they are no longer virgins to human evil. Hence, it is easy to confuse right from wrong and as a result, moral dilemmas become an issue. Willard detests the Americans as much as Marlow hates the "pilgrims". They are faced with the option of siding with Kurtz and following their instinct or to act under moral beliefs about work ethic and to kill the respected Kurtz. Kurtz is a man of moral dilemmas; he threatens to kill the journalist and the Russian. Also, he uses the natives to act against his (Kurtz
Some common words found in the essay are:
Heart Darkness, Captain Willard, Kurtz Kurtz, Francis Coppola, Captain Willard's, Darkness Hollywood, Journalist Sometimes, Americans Marlow, War Viewers, Coppola's Apocalypse, horror madness, heart darkness, special effects, conrad 100, human heart, kurtz's station, moral dilemmas, arrival kurtz's station, vietnam war, madness horror, captain willard's, willard's arrival kurtz's, captain willard's arrival, darkness human heart,
Approximate Word count = 1059
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
