Apocalypse Now : the dehumanization of American soldiers in the VietnamWar
Hal Howe
Apocalypse Now (1979), directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is without a doubt one of the most influential movies in my life, not only because of the way it was shot and put together but also in its poetic symbolism. Although many viewers and critics alike choose to disregard in-depth analysis of the film’s meaning, I find it hard to ignore the genius behind this tale of man’s descent into insanity. Apocalypse Now is a modern retelling of the novel Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, which follows a man’s journey down a ri ver in an attempt to find a man named Kurtz who penetrated to the farthest reaches of the Congo and established himself as a god. Marlon Brando was Coppola’s Kurtz, the villain of the film, whil e Martin Sheen played Captain Willard - an officer eager for a mission who is sent to assassinate Kurtz. However, what the film is really about is the psychedelic confusion, violence, fear, and nightmarish madness of the VietnamWar, and how the journey towards evil (The Heart of Darkness) corrupts a man ’ s soul. In my own interpretation of the film, the Vietnam war is the ultimate dehumanizing ordeal, in which each step closer to the front line (the heart of darkness) brings a new level of insanity. Colonel Kurtz is a man so inhuman by the time the film starts that he represents the heart of darkness, the root of all evil. In this essay I will discuss the importance of Willard and his crew’s journey towards this.
The film opens with Willard’s face superimposed on images of warfare, presenting from the
outset the turmoil within his mind. The imagery of the jungle, fire and helicopters flying across screen, along with the sounds of helicopters show the interchangeability of his life in and out of warfare, almost as if his brain were hardwired to summon this appalling imagery. The song ‘The End’ by The Doors is playing behind the images, adding a commentary:
This is the end Beautiful friend this is the end Can you picture what will be so limitless and free desperately in need of some stranger’s hand in a desperate land
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