The Subject Position in Apocal
The subject position in a film is with whom the audience member most closely identifies with throughout the film. The subject position is created both by the filmmaker and by the audience that views the film. In many films about the American intervention in Southeast Asia, the films create a spectator position that initially is different from American national identity but by the end of the movie the subject position usually comes in line with the views widely held by Americans. Examples of these types of Vietnam films are Platoon and China Gate. But some films in this sub-genre stray from this pattern. One example of a film about Vietnam in which the subject position does not change is Apocalypse Now. In Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola creates an unstable subject position that is different from most other films about Vietnam. In Coppola's film the subject position remains fixed to something other than that of American national identity.In Apocalypse Now, Coppola uses the figure of Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) to create a subject position. Coppola wants the audience to experience the film through the eyes and thoughts of Captain Willard. This is accomplished mainly through the use of voice over narration and poi
Greiff, Louis K., "Soldier, Surfer, Sailor, Chef: Conrad's Ethics and the Margins of Hanoi to Hollywood: The Vietnam War in American Film, eds. Dittmar, Linda The subject position is also created by oppositions to Willard's character, in other words, Willard's "other". In Apocalypse Now there are many "others". One such "other" that helps to create the subject position is Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall). Kilgore is portrayed as a fearless commander who cares for his men. In the helicopter assault scene, Kilgore chooses the insertion point of the PBR (patrol boat, river) that Willard is traveling on, by which location has the best surfing. During the scene, while everyone else is diving for cover, Kilgore walks around the battlefield with his shirt off ignoring the mortar shells that are exploding all around him. Kilgore is ignoring what is going on around him in order to accomplish his two missions, to insert the PBR and to surf. This is in opposition to Willard's excessive thinking about his mission to assassinate a renegade officer.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Kurtz Willard's, Chief Chief, Willard Kurtz, United States', Duvall Kilgore, Captain Willard, Kurtz Colonel, Antiwar Film, Brando Willard, Americans Americans, subject position, national identity, vietnam war, voice narration, university press, hollywood vietnam, war american film, press brunswick, rutgers university, gene rutgers, hollywood vietnam war, brunswick 1997, vietnam war american, eds dittmar linda, american film eds,
Approximate Word count = 1925
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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