Apocalypse Now

Cam Collins


Maddox


Apocalypse Now Paper


12 February 2010





"Apocalypse Now" is an exciting movie that is very similar and symbolic to Heart Of Darkness. In the beginning of "Apocalypse Now" the producer starts out with many symbolic and appealing visuals. At the very start of the film, we see the jungle, and then in about thirt seconds the jungle is set-a-flame. Here we notice the correlation to Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, relating to when the Belgians fired meaninglessly into the Congo jungle. Next we see helicopters with their wings spinning very fast and then a ceiling fan that is also spinning. Right after, the main character appears on the screen looking dazed and sweating heavily. This could possibly symbolize the effect that the wilderness has had on the main character, maybe that his head is spinning out of control.

The story then moves to the jungle in India, where the main character feasts with other generals. They eat a very classy meal. By cutting meat and serving a nice, upper-class dinner, it represents the theme of civilized society. Because next captain Willard will venture out into the jungle, the un-civilized and savage side. In his terms, its "the worst possible place to be in the world." The movie starts out very intriguing, allowing the viewer to succumb to the plot and pay attention to all aspects of the film.



The second session that we watched the movie, one of the generals were quoting Heart Of Darkness in that he was talking about the conflict between good and evil and that every man has a breaking point. There was aslo lots of irony in this section of the movie. Perhaps the sunset at the beginning of Willard's journey symbolizes irony. The red colors in this scene represent hell and chaos. Also, when the men were blowing up a Vietnamese island, they were praying to God which is major irony. The captain of the soldiers destroys another island for the mere sake of surfing. Irony is a major theme in "Apocalypse Now" and it testifies to the insanity of the men who have succumbed to the wilderness.