Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness is undo
Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is undoubtedly one of the greatest works of world literature. Its film adaptation, admittedly quite loose, was undertaken by the American director Francis Ford Coppola, and the result was "Apocalypse Now". The most important changes made by Coppola are time and the main character. However, the plot is still based on a similar pattern. Well, the story was set during the Vietnam War, when Captain Benjamin Willard is tasked with killing Colonel Kurtz, who allegedly murdered several people and named himself chief of the tribe in the deep jungle.
Willard heads with the crew of a small ship to where Kurtz is located, along the river, with American and Vietnamese forces fighting each other. First of all, it is necessary to emphasize the incredible symbolism of "Apocalypse Now", almost comparable to its literary prototype. One of the most important messages in the film is the critique of the Vietnam War. We have a lot of examples here that show the utter nonsense of these actions. Soldiers become tools to fight the democratic system against the communist one, and in fact they do not know what they are really dying for. They treat killing "yolks", as they call their opponents, as the only way back home. For example, the crew of a small ship on which Willard sails, perfectly illustrates the attitude of soldiers to the conflict. A surfer, a cook, a young boy from the Bronx, they are completely uninterested in this war, they just want to survive and return. The very title suggests another possibility of interpreting this multi-layered film. The director presents us with an apocalyptic vision of the world. The first scene of the destruction of the tropical forest by helicopters, the later images of napalm attacks by bombers and the view of the constant fight during the entire journey of the main character bring to mind comparisons with the biblical Apocalypse of St.
John. Apocalypse Now is also a journey into the depths of the human mind. As Willard travels, he ponders where normalcy ends and madness begins. He also wonders about the essence of evil. The closer he gets to Kurtz, the more he ceases to believe in the rightness of the mission.
She begins to notice the fact that the defector's behavior is no worse than having him murdered. The space in Francis Ford Coppola's film is ruled by darkness. We cannot speak of darkness seen through the eyes, but figurative darkness. The author does not compare it with any bright, illuminated place. Even where Captain Willard goes on a mission is not positive. The main character, waiting for the mission there, says: "Every minute I spend in this place, I'm getting weaker." In the next part, already in the jungle, he emphasizes that his home is here.
As we move towards the goal, the landscape grows gloomier, as if the circle of hell was revolving around Kurtz's whereabouts. In this picture we have a kind of personality duel. At first, the still unpredictable deeds and behavior of Kurtz, contrasted with the military obedience of Captain Willard, indicate an undeniable difference between good and evil. However, with time, we blur this line so much that, just like the main character, we do not know which side is right. These two personalities bring hatred closer to lying. Technically, Apocalypse Now is also an amazing spectacle. Great pictures of the Vietnamese jungle, romantic music, great acting and a refined script create, together with the only partially very deep content described above, a masterpiece of world cinema.
Francis Ford Coppola has created a film that does not fall into pretentiousness or lengthy even for a moment, the actors are incredibly convincing.
Humorous scenes of surfing the waves during the bombing and Wagner's music during the attack on the coast for a moment distract us from the ominous climate.
Although Apocalypse Now has a lot of political overtones, it still affects people with its timeless message of the pointlessness of war concerning many armed conflicts today. Before watching this painting, I strongly encourage you to read the book by our compatriot Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, entitled "Heart of Darkness", which will undoubtedly help to understand the rich symbolism of Francis Ford Coppola's film ..
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