Apocalypse Now
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“Heart of Darkness” written by polish —born writer Joseph Conrad and published in 1902 is the main basis for Francis Ford Coppala’s Oscar winning film “Apocalypse Now” created in 1979. Joseph Conrad show his great knowledge of the Imperialist activities and their consequences to man while Francis Ford Coppalla interprets the story in a setting involving the Vietnam War and sets out to show the damages of war. Both stories show the “civilized” interacting with the “savages” for advantageous reasons in an attempt to demonstrate the contradictions and hypocrisy carried out by civilization. The characters share similar roles but the personalities vary and events occur at a similar pace but the scenes are carried differently. Francis Ford Coppola inputs his own ideas onto the film.
Conrad’s Marlow, the protagonist of “Heart of Darkness”, is a man who is seen as an adventurer, wanderer, and optimistic not yet broken before his assignment. Francis Coppala’s Willard is seen in the beginning contemplating suicide and needs a mission to have some meaning for him to keep living. He is a war torn special op’s soldier who has already seen the horrors of society and even has been involved. Willard has already developed the belief of mankind depriving itself but only needs to confirm this. Marlow is sent out to find and return Kurtz, an ivory trader for the company, and is fascinated by him and his abilities to acquire ivory in a cheap and affective way. Willard on the other hand seeks Kurtz on a mission to retrieve him because he is plotting secret mission against the Vietcong and American Vietnamese allies. Willard is also fascinated by Kurtz when reading the assignments description of Kurtz and his accomplishments. Willard and Marlow are both similar in that they stay true to their mission