When asked what stands as some of the best movie adaptations of novels, what films come to mind? The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and many other movies certainly come to mind, but there are always those select few that are untouched gems, somewhat left hiding in the dark. Francis Ford Coppola 's Apocalypse Now is a superb film, drawing certain plot points and inspiration from the equally superb novel Heart of Darkness, written by Joseph Conrad. In order to truly feel the masterpieces, however, the movie and novel should be paired together, for the combination allows the reader or viewer to make the connections between the two. Through their works, Conrad and Coppola both respectively employ a mastery of language and film techniques, which
The main idea revolving around the use of light and dark is to highlight Kurtz’s influence. In the very final scene of the film, the viewer sees Willard exit the temple after killing Kurtz and come face to face with all of the natives previously under Kurtz’s influence. Immediately during this scene, the camera zooms in to get a close-up of Willard 's upper body. On one half of his body, the part facing towards the temple is in complete pitch black, whereas the opposite side is illuminated by a faint light. Here, the traditional take on light and dark is maintained, with light equalling good and dark bad. By the positioning of the light, it is emphasized how Willard is torn; a part of him is influenced by Kurtz and wants to carry on his work, whereas the normal Willard is facing away, emphasizing the need to escape. To help strengthen the aspect of Kurtz’s influence, it can be observed for most of the scenes how Kurtz is constantly clad in dark. For most of the time, his face is not visible to the viewer. The purpose of this is to show how Kurtz’s voice is the influencer, and the main cause for Willards fixation. In both Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now, Marlow and Willard were mesmerized by his voice. Coppola’s use of light and dark highlights how Kurtz’s voice caused Willard to become mentally torn. It further promotes the idea that in a time of extreme stress, the power of words can make sense, regardless of the
best film adaptations of a novel that I have seen. The novel and the film are
The death of Kurtz is the biggest contrast of Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness. The death of Kurtz in Heart of Darkness is simple and no emotion is given by Marlow as he continued with his dinner. Marlow gave the reader the feeling as if this death was nothing of importance to the plot of the story. Compared to Coppola’s film where Willard fights a bloody battle and kills Kurtz with his machete while outside the ritualistic sacrifice of a cow is taking place creating a high intensity atmosphere. The book and the film have a similar moral which is that when left alone with the power to answer to no one, madness with soon develop and eventually corrupt.
In 1979, Francis Coppola released a film that he said he hoped "would give its audience a sense of the horror, the madness, the sensuousness, and the moral dilemma of the Vietnam war" (as quoted in Hagen 230). His film, Apocalypse Now, based on Joseph Conrad's 1902 novel Heart of Darkness, is the story of Captain Benjamin Willard's (Martin Sheen) journey to the interior of the jungle of Southeastern Asia for the purpose of executing his orders to track down Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando). Once Kurtz is located, Willard is to "terminate his command with extreme prejudice" because Kurtz has raised an army of deserters and natives, whom he rules over like a fanatical war lord- When Willard finally reaches Kurtz's compound and meets him, he discovers a man who has descended into primitive barbarism. From the beginning of their encounter, Kurtz knows why Willard was sent to find him and makes no effort to stop Willard from slaying him with a machete. With his mission accomplished, Willard boards the boat that will take him. back to civilization.
When reading each page, a sort of investigation begins in trying to figure out how Kurtz became insane. However, that investigation was not fully closed because in the end no one knew what had happened to him. In a way his character presented the idea that perhaps the darkness, his darkness was his own and was all along in him waiting to come out. Because there were other men living and working in the Congo who had not become insane as he did, such as the Russian trader or the ivory company’s accountant.
“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 to the character of Kurtz, it is worth noting that while significant discrepancies exist between the depictions of Conrad and Coppola, the basic nature of the man remains fairly similar. The idea of company man turned savage, of a brilliant and successful team-player, being groomed by "the Company" for greater things, suddenly gone native, is perfectly realized in both novella and film. In the film, Kurtz is portrayed by Marlon Brando, the father of American method actors, who lends weight (both physically and dramatically) to the figure of the megalomaniacal Kurtz. Brando's massive girth is all the more ironic for those familiar with Heart of Darkness who recall Conrad's description: "I could see the cage of his ribs all astir, the bones of his arms waving.
The setting gives the reader a sense that terror awaits. This story shows this by talking about the lighting
...re”. While his Intended pines for Kurtz in his absence, his Mistress longs for the heavens and freedom. While they are interconnected in some ways, Kurtz’s Intended and his Mistress represent physically the paradox of light and dark, in that two people so similar might behave and think so differently.
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.
This essay consists of two separate parts but the intention is that both these parts will prove to be relevant from the point of view of what this essay sets out to study. The first part will present Joseph Conrad's life and some of his works and the latter part will consist of a comparison of two of Conrad's works, Heart of Darkness and The Secret Agent. In this essay I will begin from two assumptions, namely, that both the works mentioned above include clearly identifiable similarities in their narration, theme and method, and, that Conrad's own experiences and views have had great effect on both works.
Darkness is a huge motif in The Heart of Darkness. Almost every other page is filled with some imagery relating to the dark or low visibility. It is well known in literature that darkness has negative connotations. The dark is associated with dirtiness, ignorance, and death. Being in the dark is not a good place to be, however, this is where Conrad places us.
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.
The contrast between light and dark is very important when attempting to understand Conrad's thoughts and ideas about civilization and what it really is.
Beckoning readers closer, the gloomy foreboding of a mysterious darkness has typically been indicative of an antagonist or a horror that is to follow, and the glory of a shining light has signified a positive connotation. The pair is often utilized to express an author’s ideas and theme and Joseph Conrad uses the two paradigms liberally in his interpretation of European colonialism in Heart of Darkness. While Conrad employs the typical binary of light and darkness as positive and negative forces, respectively, he also challenges this notion by exposing the contradictions of misdeeds done in light and the portrayal of darkness as a sanctuary.
In Modernist literature, much like painting, there is experimentation with form: narration style, tone, plot line. Instead of having Kurtz tell his story, or Marlow recite the tale of his journey, the actual narrator in the Heart of Darkness is an unknown passenger on the Nellie.