Characters within a movie can have similarities, but what if they are identical? Not in the sense of appearances, but in the way that they act and think. While it is common for characters to have similar ideas and motives when it comes to the plot, developing the ideologies of another character is an interesting juxtaposition. In Apocalypse Now, a film from 1979, this is the case for its protagonist, Captain Willard. Willard is tasked with a mission to exterminate a rogue colonel by the name of Colonel Kurtz. However, as his mission progresses, Willard begins his own transformation into that of a rogue soldier. Through both stylistic and narrative elements in the movie, the hunter (Willard) becomes more like his prey (Kurtz) until both have …show more content…
By the end of the film, each man has mentally left the army even though they are both still physically in it. As Willard says, the two are “not in their army anymore” (Coppola 1979). Even further, Kurtz and Willard stories are intertwined as Willard says that he “’need[s] to tell his story to tell my own’” (Coppola 1979). Each man has held different roles within in the army, yet in a way they have the same end goal, to follow commands, and kill. This is additionally explained with the cyclical judgement that occurs in the film as Willard interestingly follows Kurtz’s footsteps into madness. Also, in the narrative Kurtz and Willard share similar plot points. For example, Lev states that “we cannot believe in Colonel Kurtz, the charismatic leader gone mad, and this throws us back to the incoherent experience of the ordinary soldier” (126). Willard experiences this first hand as he and the team travel to Do Lung Bridge in hopes of finding aid. However, Willard and the rest onboard the boat come across men that instead are trying to board their boat begging them to get them out of Vietnam. Meanwhile, other “American soldiers fight Charlie every night at the Do Lung bridges, and Willard learns that ‘No one is in command’” (Lev 117). This relates back to Lev’s idea of the experience of the ordinary soldier, as with the leader gone mad, the rest of the unit has also fallen into madness as no one is there to guide them. The structure of the military is based purely on leadership and the chain of command, without either in place, the soldiers at Do Lung are essentially helpless and have no means of getting out. Circling back to Kurtz and Willard’s main objective in the military, to kill, each is responsible for a number of deaths. What got Kurtz in trouble to begin with was his execution of Vietnamese people he believed to have been double agents. As this act displeased
... book to characters in other novels, you begin to see styles of leadership that are used and the effectiveness that they can have on a person’s character and ability to accomplish a mission. I feel as if a constant leadership style was put in charge from the beginning of their deployment that followed the standard that was necessary, then the soldiers would have been unable to commit the crimes they did during their deployment. On the flipside of that coin, I feel as if more competent leaders had existed through the tumultuous time of the deployment, they would have been able to adapt to the situation and control the soldiers they were responsible for no matter how difficult the deployment became. Despite the fact that 11 of 33 original 1st platoon leaders were removed by the end of the deployment a strong leader duo could have prevented the actions that took place.
“We did not break down, but adapted ourselves” These soldiers know that modern warfare is extremely complicated and demands knowledge and experience. They learn how the differentiate shell sounds, when to take cover, when it’s safe to take off your gas mask, how to tell shrapnel from high explosives. It is shown through the naive and inexperienced recruits that not knowing and applying this knowledge is fatal. Some soldiers call on their innermost animal instincts to allow them to kill mercilessly on the field, using the assistance of a metaphor Remarque writes “We are dead men with no feelings, who are able by some trick to keep on running and keep on killing.” Granted war is a barbaric affair, ironically sometimes the worst of conditions can bring out the best in people. This is through the form of comrade and mate ship. On the field fellow soldiers would provide mutual support for each other and create extremely tight bonds. This is shown in All Quiet on the Western Front through Paul and his tight nit platoon. Paul’s unique experience with mate ship is how especially close he is with his friend Kat. This is expressed in the recounting of when they stole and cooked a goose together. Remarque writes “We don't talk much, but I believe we have a more complete communion with one another than even lovers have.” This shows how mate ship was
This toxic and deceitful environment is shocking, especially because the book focuses on the united states military. The tone of Catch-22 is vastly different from the other glamorous patriotic war novels of the time. Instead of focusing on glamorous, fictionalized tales of heroism, Catch-22 focuses on corruption and deception, and more importantly how Yossarian begins to see the war and all of its lies. This is how the novel begins to reveal one of its most important messages. It focuses on lies and suffering and reveals the real intentions of deceitful officers who justify their actions because its “for the good of the country”. Through this focus on corruption, lies and broken promises Yossarian begins to realize that war is not glamorous, no one fights or dies for their country, they fight and die on the orders of uncaring commanding officers. As Yossarian realizes the horrible truth of war, he helps convey it to the readers, constantly commenting on the futility of their fight, questioning orders like the bombing of an innocent village, and mourning is friends senseless death. He further shows his opinions of war by constantly trying to avoid conflict, faking injuries, fleeing to Rome and trying to have himself removed from active duty. Yossarian constantly criticizes his generals and is instrumental in helping the reader realize just how little they care about the war or their soldiers, more focused on their own personal glory, shown through Sheisskopf’s obsession with awards and parades and Cathcarts constant raising of flight missions required. These men risk nothing while putting young soldiers in unnecessary and life threatening situations just to raise their own status. Yossarian and Catch-22 use corruption and deceit to reveal a much larger lie, there is no honor in war, men kill and die for an uncaring commanding officer, not for freedom or their
"War is hell . . . war is mystery terror and adventure and courage and discovery and despair and . . . war is nasty (80)." When it all happened it was not like "a movie you aren't a hero and all you can do is whimper and wait (211)." O'Brien and the rest of the solders were just ordinary people thrust into extraordinary situations. They needed to tell blatant lies" to "bring the body and soul back together (239)." They needed to eliminate the reality of death. As ordinary people they were not capable of dealing with the engulfing realities of death and war therefore they needed to create coping skills. O'Brien approaches the loss of his childhood friend, Linda, in the same way he approaches the loss of his comrades in the war as this is the only way he knows how to deal with death. A skill he learned, and needed, in the Vietnam War.
Black Hearts is a great example of the reality on how severe bad leadership skills can ripple throughout a unit and impact its overall mission. This book serves as a guide for future leaders of America and will set the examples of what not to do in leadership positions. The lessons we can take from these soldiers can help us as potential leaders to become more competent and effective. The fact that this book focused on the hardships, poor decisions and sound judgment of the soldiers it helped emphasize on what was not the best choice of action and leaves a moment for you as the audience to think how you would of done it better. So right or wrong there was a lesson to be learned and the book did a good job including the reader. This book puts you in the shoes of a small group of soldiers from the 502nd Infantry Regiment and gives you an up close and personal take on the experience of the soldiers, from the bottom of the the ranks all the way up to the commander. 502nd Bravo Company 1st platoon deployed in the fall of 2005 into one of the most dangerous battle zones in Iraq known as the “Triangle of Death”. Thrown into the heartland of a growing insurgency, with undefined goals and a shortage of manpower, Bravo Company began piling up casualties at an alarming rate. They suffered many losses, as well as mental anguish. Because of the long and tragic deployment, a collapse in leadership began to unfold causing one of the most tragic, brutal, and infamous deployments in U.S Army history. There were many reasons that caused the deconstruction of leadership, and eventually, the actions of the soldiers accompanied by the lack of control, lead to the rape and murder of an innocent Iraqi girl and her family. This is a story about character...
Comparing Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now 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 did the same in the late 1970's.
Although one is a book and the other is a movie, both Apocalypse Now which is directed by Francis Ford Coppola and Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad portray very detailed scenes by using various elements in their respective works. A scene is particular that stands out is the death of the helmsman which contains many similarities but also many differences between the two works. Similarities like the iconic fog that appears serve to convey a message of the helpless that the characters feel because at the mystery of their surroundings and of the uncertainly of what their tasks.
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.
In similar ways the setting shaped the main characters into who they are. The character Marlow in Heart of Darkness is similar to Willard in the movie. Marlow tells the story in the Heart of Darkness. He is a sailor trying to find the mysterious Kurtz, and he gradually becomes more and more obsessive of him as the plot progresses. The movie is in more or less the same way. Willard is a soldier on a mission to exterminate Colonel Kurtz. However, as he gradually obtains more and more information on him, his opinions start to change about him. Marlow and Willard are both trying to meet Kurtz in one way or another, and have developed similar personalities. They are both displayed in a positive viewpoint, being the main protagonists of the book and movie, respectively. They also develop similar character qualities: tough, courageous, down to earth, and independent. Their characters are very likeable; as a reader/viewer, most opinions are based off their perspective (point of view). However, despite these similarities, the director chose to change Willard slightly. For example, a movie is much shorter than a book so character development is...
During the Vietnam War, the first platoon (approximately forty men) was lead by a young officer named William Calley. Young Calley was drafted into the US Army after high school, but it did not take long for him to adjust to being in the army, with a quick transition to the lifestyle of the military, he wanted to make it his career. In high school, Calley was a kind, likable and “regular” high school student, he seemed to be a normal teenager, having interest in things that other boys his age typically had. He was never observed acting in a cruel or brutal way. In Vietnam, Calley was under direct order of company commander, Captain Ernest Medina, whom he saw as a role model, he looked up to Medina. (Detzer 127).
In the opening scenes of the documentary film "Hearts of Darkness-A Filmmaker's Apocalypse," Eleanor Coppola describes her husband Francis's film, "Apocalypse Now," as being "loosely based" on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Indeed, "loosely" is the word; the period, setting, and circumstances of the film are totally different from those of the novella. The question, therefore, is whether any of Conrad's classic story of savagery and madness is extant in its cinematic reworking. It is this question that I shall attempt to address in this brief monograph by looking more closely at various aspects of character, plot, and theme in each respective work.
The soldiers feel that the only people they can talk to about the war are their “brothers”, the other men who experienced the Vietnam War. The friendship and kinship that grew in the jungles of Vietnam survived and lived on here in the United States. By talking to each other, the soldiers help to sort out the incidents that happened in the War and to put these incidents behind them. “The thing to do, we decided, was to forget the coffee and switch to gin, which improved the mood, and not much later we were laughing at some of the craziness that used to go on” (O’Brien, 29).
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.
Similarities and difference with The Graduate vs. Risky Business I viewed two films and I intend to show you how these films have more similarities than differences. In the film The Graduate directed by Mike Nichols starring Dustin Hoffman, Anne Brancroft, and Kathreine Moss (1967) and Risky Business directed by Paul Brinkman starring Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay and Joe Pantoliano (1983) both of which are comedy, drama, romance genre. I will explore and show you that there are more similarities than differences. The first similarity is the leading roles are young adolescent men who are either are just graduating high school and or college who are confused, have a loss of innocence, some crazy unique sexual fantasies while both main characters are inexperienced about sex.
The lack of Soldier discipline, is a direct reflection of the Soldier’s leadership. The first line