Elements of Darkness in Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness
In both Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness certain elements of darkness attempt to show how deep one must look inside themselves to discover the truth. Conrad portrays the idea of the darkness of the human heart through things such as the interior of the jungle and it's immensity, the Inner Station, and Kurtz's own twisted deeds. Coppola's heart of darkness is represented by the madness of the Vietnam War and how even to look for a purpose in it all; is itself quite mad.
It was no accident that a documentary was made on Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 film, "Apocalypse Now" entitled "Hearts of Darkness- A Filmmaker's Apocalypse" since the production of the film was something of a horrific journey for those involved. Throughout the production, the cast and crew were plagued by some serious problems. A typhoon that nearly destroyed the set, budget problems, suicide threats from Coppola, and Martin Sheen having a heart attack were just a few things that were faced during the filming. The descent into madness that went along with making "Apocalypse Now" mirrored the film's own themes and also reflected the themes of "Heart of Darkness", the Conrad novella that the film is based on. The theme of a journey into human darkness is something shared by both the film and the book but each tells the story in a different and unique way.
The basic plots of "Apocalypse Now" and "Heart of Darkness" are very similar. Both films have a main character that makes a journey down a long and winding river to find a man name Kurtz. In the film the protagonist is a Special Forces captain named Willard, in the book he is called Marlow. The film seems to have a more dir...
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... Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse [Film]. Showtime/ Paramount.
Chatman, Seymour. "Two and a Half Versions of Heart of Darkness." Conrad on Film. Ed. Gene M. Moore. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Editor Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton, 1988.
Coppola, Francis Ford (Director, Co-author). 1979. Apocalypse Now [Film]. American Zoetrope/ United Artists.
Ruthven, K. K. 'Elements of Darkness: Conrad and Lawrence,' Critical Quarterly, x, nos 1& 2 (Spring and Summer 1968), pp. 41-6. Ed. C. B. Cox.
Virtanen, Panu S. (1997). Apocalypse Now Tribute Page. Retrieved July 2nd, 1997 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/9067/apocal.html.
Wilmington, Mike. "Worth the Wait: Apocalypse Now." Heart of Darkness, Norton Critical Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1988.
Erik Larson was motivated to tell these two incredible stories because he became so interested and astonished in the Chicago World’s Fair the more he read about it. Larson could not believe that the city of Chicago would “take on the impossible” and that “George Ferris would attempt to build something so big and novel-and that he would succeed on his first try” (Pg. 393). He has always loved the city of Chicago and wanted to know more about the history, so this was also a motive to write the novel.
Heart of Darkness written by Joseph Conrad and "Apocalypse Now" a movie directed by Francis Coppola are two works that parallel one another but at the same time reflect their own era in time and their creator's own personal feelings and prejudices. "Apocalypse Now" was released in 1979 after two years in the making, as Coppola's modern interpretation to Joseph Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness (Harris). Conrad's book is an excellent example of the advances writers and philosophers made in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This advance deals with civilized humanity's ability to be prepared for and know the unknown. (Johnson) Comparatively, Copolla's movie does the same in the late 1970's. "Apocalypse Now" dares to breach the edges of soldier sanity in a stressful and protested Vietnam War.
and would’ve lived on for another ten to twenty years if it wasn’t for his death. He was
“Under an overcast sky — seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness.” This is the last line of the book Heart of Darkness and it summed up the setting and tone of the book. Apocalypse Now is an epic war film made in 1979 set in Vietnam directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It is based on the book Heart of Darkness. The settings of both the book and the movie are very different; they take place in completely different places. However, their effects are very similar to each other and shown in a variety of ways: in character development, cultural aspects, as well as thematically.
As discussed, it is clear that when it comes to public health the lines are often quite blurred. The Biomedical Model and the Lifestyle Theory Model both have their advantages however a common theme throughout both models is that they are both too reductionist in their approach to health. They failed to consider other health models viewpoints, or incorporate external factors such as the social gradient into their reasoning behind the cause and effect of bad health. Therefore instead of trying to categorise health into definite ‘health models’, health needs to be accepted more for what it is - a forever changing and adapting concept.
Rieber, R. W. (2001). Wilhelm Wundt in history: the making of a scientific psychology. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.
Another way to define Clinical psychology is by looking at its history, to begin with Wilhelm Wundt is known as the father of psychology he contributed to psychology by his creation of the world's first experimental psychology lab established in 1879. By creating the laboratory made to study experimental psychology he took psychology from a sub-discipline of philosophy and biology to a one of a kind scientific discipline. Wundt, in his academic years trained 186 graduate students one of them being Lightner Witmer. Witmer came up with the first definition of "Clinical Psychology" in a 1907 paper as, "The study of individuals, by observation or experimentation, with the intention of promoting change" (Cherry). Ten years after treating a young boy that had learning disabilities he created the journal Psychology Clinic. All though his journal no longer exists his theory of clinical psychology forms a significant part of the modern department.
Both Conrad’s, “Heart of Darkness”, and Coppola’s, “Apocalypse Now”, profoundly illustrate the journey of man into their inner self and man’s encounters with their insanity, fears and demise. The novella and film are comprised of numerous pivotal themes that facilitate the understanding of the deeper meaning of both works. Fundamentally, theme is an extensive message or idea expressed by an author and is a crucial element of literature since it sheds light on universal concepts. The most striking parallels that can be formulated when comparing themes in both the novella and the film are associated with human nature. Specifically, Conrad and Coppola incorporate theme of hypocrisy in order to portray man’s incredible potential for evil.
Psychology is a relatively new field in the realm of the sciences with only about 130 years old. Wilhelm Wundt was known as the “father of psychology” the first psychologist. Wundt was in the philosophy filed in the beginning of his study; later on in his life, he opened the first psychology laboratory. A well known method in Wundt’s experiment was the Introspection, “this was a description of an experience broken down into its simplest terms, its elements” (Watson, Evans 278). William James was one of the most famous founder of American psychology. He was interested in how people are influenced by their environment, “rather than breaking consciousness down into its elements, he preferred to look at the human experience as complete wholes” (McMahon, Judith 8). The most well known and popular psychologist in modern day is Sigmund Freud, an Austrian Physician in the late 1800’s. Freud established the theory of personality, in his view, “problems that appear in adolescence or adulthood can be tranced to things that happened in the first five or six years of life” (McMahon, Judith 7). Freud’s concepts of mind, the conscious, pre-conscious, and the unconscious are still widely used in present books and movies.
The beliefs of the modern society oppress Nora and the other women in the play. While Nora is limited by the ingrained social beliefs of the time, she fails to recognize her inferior social position. She is unaware that she, along with Torvald, is bound by these unspoken beliefs. According to Solden, women during the late nineteenth century grew interested in other spheres besides the house, including government, medicine, education, and law (156). The movement for increased education for women challenged the accepted belief in separate gender spheres (157). Men challenged the intellectual and physical abilities of women because they feared competition. The controlling males did not want to lose power over their helpless wives (157). Nora deals with her husband’s strict adherence to social norms as he attempts to keep her under his influence.
Francis Coppola’s movie Apocalypse Now was inspired by the world famous Joseph Conrad novel Heart of Darkness. A comparison and contrast can be made between the two. Both have similar themes but entirely different settings. Heart of Darkness takes place on the Congo River in the Heart of Africa, while Apocalypse Now is set in Vietnam.
Psychology started, and had a long history, as a topic within the fields of philosophy and physiology. It then became an independent field of its own through the work of the German Wilhelm Wundt, the founder of experimental psychology and structuralism. Wundt stressed the use of scientific methods in psychology, particularly through the use of introspection. In 1875, a room was set-aside for Wundt for demonstrations in what we now call sensation and perception. This is the same year that William James set up a similar lab at Harvard. Wilhelm Wundt and William James are usually thought of as the fathers of psychology, as well as the founders of psychology?s first two great ?schools? Structuralism and Functionalism. Psychologist Edward B Titchner said; ?to study the brain and the unconscious we should break it into its structural elements, after that we can construct it into a whole and understand what it does.? (psicafe.com)
Psychology is the study of the mind, its biology, and behavior if the individual. The father of psychology, Wilhelm Wundt, used objective measurement and controlled analyzing to find and emphasize separation between psychology and philosophy (McLeod). Wundt opened the Institute for Experimental Psychology at the University of Leipzig in Germany in 1879, using his background in physiology to study reactions and sensations (McLeod). There is no doubt that he, along with the later help of Sigmund Freud, launched what is now modern psychology. Psychology and its research helped the world understand the inner workings of the mind and how it affects everyone around us.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton Critical, 1988.
The profession of psychology has been around since the time of the Greeks, but did not develop into its own discipline until around the late 1800s. A German physiologist named Wilhelm Wundt began using scientific research methods in order to investigate reaction times. He also was the first person to make the association between physiology and human thought and behavior. In 1879, he opened the first psychology lab at the University of Leipzig. This event has been said to be the official beginning of psychology as a separate scientific discipline (Landrum). Over the years, many influential people have helped the profession of psychology experience a dynamic evolution into various subfields