Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now takes us on Captain Benjamin Willard’s journey into Cambodia where he is sent to “terminate with extreme prejudice” the once brilliant Colonel Kurtz. It is apparent that Kurtz has gone insane, waging a personal war with the Vietnamese using native troops who also happen to worship him as a god. As Willard travels up the Nang River he takes a journey into the darkest corners of his own mind, finding himself increasingly becoming the man that he has been sent out to destroy. Apocalypse Now is loosely based on Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness, originally set in Congo during the days of European colonization. Coppola takes Conrad’s novel and moves it a few years, to the time of the Vietnam War, relating to the current events that America was immersed during the time of filming. Although Apocalypse Now does not accurately depict the Vietnam War, it does leave viewers with a strong impression of the insanity of war and mankind in general through many of the movie’s most memorable scenes.
Every scene involving Colonel Kilgore is great from the “Flight of the Valkryies” air raid to his classic “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” speech. Kilgore serves as a comparison to Kurtz, in the sense that unlike Kurtz, he views war as another job without the realization of his actions. To him surfing is more important than the lives of those he’s killed. Coppola, when filming Apocalypse Now, intended to show his own views of the Vietnam War. This is clearly shown in the scene were Willard and his men massacre all the individuals on a passing boat. Here, soldiers are not depicted as symbols of heroism, but of inhuman machines of war.
The Term Paper on Heart Of Darkness Kurtz Marlow Coppola
... on a mission into Cambodia during the Vietnam war to find and kill an insane Colonel Kurtz. Coppola's Kurtz, as he experienced his epiphany of ... within themselves out every time they go into battle. The scene in Apocalypse Now where Captain Willard first meets Lt. Colonel Kilgore ...
In the final scene of the movie, Willard, after killing Kurtz, throws down his machete and Kurtz’s native troops follow by throwing down their weapons. This probably symbolizes the end of war, a subliminal message to society. Apocalypse Now defies reality, proving insight into the horrors that war brings. This movie leaves viewers questioning our society and the necessity and futility of war.
