An allegory is the representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through a story. Essentially, this is a story with an underlying meaning, or other story, being told. Coppola's film Apocalypse Now: The Complete Dossier is an example of such.
Many ideas, and notions of the Vietnam war may be drawn from the film. For instance, one theme which occurs through most works on the war is the loss of innocence. This is seen in this film as well. An example of this is the character of Kurtz. It is obvious the war has claimed his innocence. The war has transformed him to such a point where he has been consumed by his madness. Furthermore, he is the embodiment of how even the elite, such as he special forces can fall.
In addition to the loss of innocence, the immaturity of the soldiers is seen through the soldier who agrees to the transport when he realizes he may surf. Generally, one would not expect a soldier to be keen on surfing. This demonstrates how the soldiers fighting here are young for the combat that they face. After this scene, we here one of the soldiers claim to love the smell of napalm, and that it smells like victory. This is reminiscent of the idea that American's believed they would win the war by simply bombing the country over and over again. This depicts the idea that the American's believed they were totally superior, and would win easily. Overall this film possessed several clear allegories.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
An allegory is the representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through a story. Essentially, this is a story with an underlying meaning, or other story, being told. Coppola's film Apocalypse Now: The Complete Dossier is an example of such.
ReplyDeleteMany ideas, and notions of the Vietnam war may be drawn from the film. For instance, one theme which occurs through most works on the war is the loss of innocence. This is seen best through the characters Willard and Kurtz. Although Willard is assigned to kill Kurtz, they are similar characters. Both of these characters represent this loss of innocence. After seeing the war, and feel a calling to it (as seen through Willard's return), they see their own inner darkness. When Kurtz sees his own he flees to start up his own community. Willard does not see his own until he comes face to face will Kurtz, in which he sees his it through him. His hatred for this inner darkness is why Willard ultimately kills Kurtz, even though he understands him. Ultimately, this plays into the name of the title of the film. This inner darkness is a representation of the Vietnam war, and the ensuing apocalypse. Apocalypse Now signals the Vietnam war being the apocalypse that is happening. In conclusion, the inner darkness brought out by war is the ultimate doom of man kind.