Apocalypse Now Essay

In the 1979 film Apocalypse Now, the audience is taken through the dark and perilous adventure of Captain Willard during the Vietnam War. He aims to kill Colonel Kurtz, a once-respected member of the military, but now in his own confines of the Vietnamese jungle reportedly gone completely mad. Throughout the film, Captain Willard portrays deep anxiousness and curiosity of Colonel Kurtz from the files he receives from the military. It is evident that he goes through a rather excruciating and sometimes hallucinatory ordeal to find this man within the vast jungles of Vietnam as this mystery man is always on his mind. Not long after Willard’s wish is fulfilled as he views the abominable actions enacted by Kurtz on the group of natives that view …show more content…
Both men have experienced the art of war and the horror that comes with it and it is apparent in both characters how war has affected them in some way. Willard emphasizes the power that humans possess to cause absolute carnage and destruction to others after his crew guns down a couple of Vietnamese peasants while Kurtz more so criticises the military for what he considers philosophical hypocrisy as he describes how soldiers are taught to drop fire on people but aren’t allowed to have swears on their plane. The camera places an awkward insistence on Kurtz’s bald head, giving it a rather angelic glow from the torch which refers back to the religious aura surrounding Kurtz. …show more content…
Elliot titled “The Hollow Men”. The poem focuses on a state of loneliness and brokenness with images of decay and death and this is very similar to what is portrayed in the scene, based on the setting and the personality of Kurtz. A lost soul is also a theme in this poem and this correlates well with Kurtz as he is someone who slowly loses humanity and into madness and insanity. These characteristics and the tone of Kurtz himself creates perhaps the most distinguished character in this