Blog 7 RR

The definition of "allegory" is the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence. It is a way of figuratively conveying a literal meaning. Coppola used "Apocalypse Now: Redux" as a way of conveying how awful, destructive, and twisted the Vietnam War really was. There are many symbols throughout the movie that help to convey Coppola's message.

One symbol used was the recurring use of masks and changing of oneself throughout the movie. In wartime, we think of using masks in order to camouflage, and this was what the characters were doing, but it was also showing that the soldiers were camouflaging their own beings, and becoming someone else as the movie progressed. At the beginning of the movie, Willard breaks the mirror when he's looking at his reflection in his hotel room in Saigon. This shows self-destruction of soldiers, especially soldiers that are involved in special-ops, like Willard. We can assume that he is a completely different person than before the war based on his maniacal actions in the first scene, including the breaking of the mirror. The first scene also shows the effects that PTSD has on a soldier. Throughout the film, paint is used to camouflage soldiers' faces. Although this is normal in war, the characters seem to become different people when they are camouflaged. At the end of the movie when Willard finally reaches Kurtz, we never really see Kurtz's face straight on. It is usually partially or fully hidden in shadows. This demonstrates Kurtz's transformation from a green-beret into the crazed leader he had become.

Another symbol of the film is the Nung River. I think the river symbolizes the transformation of soldiers from boys to men. At the beginning of the film, the soldiers travel during the day. Though it was probably dangerous, but it looked rather innocent because the viewer was able to see everything. As they edged closer to Kurtz's location, the movie became darker and darker, and seemingly more dangerous. Another demonstration of this symbol was when the boat reached the base where the Playboy bunnies were modeling for the soldiers. It was almost like the loss of innocence was forced on these young soldiers, forcing them to become the stereotypical macho man. By the time the boat arrived at Kurtz's location, the boys that had stepped foot on the boat months before had turned into ruthless killing machines. The symbol of fog can also be incorporated into the symbol of the river. As the film progressed, fog was used more and more frequently. This depicted the fog that soldiers enter into as they fight a war, and how practical judgement is lost.

The most symbolic part of the film was definitely the assassination of Kurtz with the simultaneous ritual killing of the bull. I think Coppola ended the film this way to show the utter brutality of a war, and to make us think about the killing of a person vs. the killing of an animal. As Willard assassinated Kurtz, we weren't able to see much, but we knew what was going on. In contrast, the killing of the bull was up against a background of fire, making the killing extremely visible. Coppola did this intentionally to depict the loss of regard that the human race has for human life, but how moving and disturbing the killing of an animal can be to viewers.