Apocalypse Now is a film that can be categorized as an allegory, which is a way to convey a meaning other than the literal by using symbolic characters and actions. Francis Coppola uses the abstract idea of an allegory to show his view on the Vietnam War. Apocalypse Now follows almost the same storyline as Heart of Darkness, a novel on which the film is based. The only difference is the setting, where the novel takes place in Africa and the film is in Vietnam.
Coppola wishes to express how pointless he thought the war in Vietnam was. There is a degree of stupidity in the film, shown when Colonel Kilgore insists that Lance go surfing while the beach is still under fire. His obsession with surfing and putting his soldiers’ safety on the back burner, and his love of “the smell of napalm in the morning” is Coppola’s way of showing the ludicrousness of the war. The main plot of the story is also an illustration of the absurdity of war, where the U.S. army orders Captain Willard to risk the lives of his small squad just to assassinate one of their own, Colonel Kurtz. Willard even says in the film that charging Kurtz with murder is like giving a speeding ticket at the Indy 500.
Coppola also wished to convey the hell of war in the most intense way. Kurtz’s loss of sanity and his pure evilness are the obvious ways this is shown in the film. But not only was the psychological state of Kurtz destroyed, all of Willard’s men were affected. Lance transforms from an innocent surfer to lacking normal feeling. He is unaffected by the death of Mr. Clean and is more concerned with the puppy that he lost, and spends most of his time on drugs. Chef is unscathed by the intensity of warfare, but breaks down after being chased by the tiger.
The symbolic killing of Kurtz is one of the most intense scenes of the film. Willard says that he will surely be rewarded for completing the mission, but he does not care because he was so damaged by his experience. The simultaneous sacrifice of the water buffalo as Kurtz is killed is a way to show that killing Kurtz had to be done. Coppola wanted to show that Kurtz’s insanity should never happen, and no one should experience the brutality of war. This idea is cemented with Kurtz’s last words: “The horror…the horror”.
Apocalypse Now is a film that can be categorized as an allegory, which is a way to convey a meaning other than the literal by using symbolic characters and actions. Francis Coppola uses the abstract idea of an allegory to show his view on the Vietnam War. Apocalypse Now follows almost the same storyline as Heart of Darkness, a novel on which the film is based.
ReplyDeleteCoppola wishes to express how pointless he thought the war in Vietnam was. There is a degree of stupidity in the film, shown when Colonel Kilgore insists that Lance go surfing while the beach is still under fire. His obsession with surfing and putting his soldiers’ safety on the back burner, and his love of “the smell of napalm in the morning” is Coppola’s way of showing the ludicrousness of the war. The main plot of the story is also an illustration of the absurdity of war, where the U.S. army orders Captain Willard to risk the lives of his small squad just to assassinate one of their own, Colonel Kurtz. Willard even says in the film that charging Kurtz with murder is like giving a speeding ticket at the Indy 500.
Coppola also wished to convey the hell of war in the most intense way. Kurtz’s loss of sanity and his pure evilness are the obvious ways this is shown in the film. But not only was the psychological state of Kurtz destroyed, all of Willard’s men were affected. Lance transforms from an innocent surfer to lacking normal feeling. He is unaffected by the death of Mr. Clean and is more concerned with the puppy that he lost, and spends most of his time on drugs. Chef is unscathed by the intensity of warfare, but breaks down after being chased by the tiger.
The symbolic killing of Kurtz is one of the most intense scenes of the film. Willard says that he will surely be rewarded for completing the mission, but he does not care because he was so damaged by his experience. The simultaneous sacrifice of the water buffalo as Kurtz is killed is a way to show that killing Kurtz had to be done. Coppola wanted to show that Kurtz’s insanity should never happen, and no one should experience the brutality of war. This idea is cemented with Kurtz’s last words: “The horror…the horror”.
On the surface, it would seem as though Willard is a hero for accomplishing his mission, but upon closer inspection he and Kurtz are both the same. They both had reached their heart of darkness, the darkness inside themselves that holds their morality captive. It is also important to understand Coppola’s reasoning behind using the river. The river is the journey into more darkness; the trip gets considerably worse around every corner, symbolizing the journey into the heart of darkness. One cannot turn back past a certain point.