Human Alienation

Rating: 8/10 (10 April 2020)

I read it in college and didn't understand it. This film is not exactly a war film, not even an anti-war, but alienation of people. From this perspective, if World War I is the entrance to the irrational world for the West, then the Vietnam War is the pinnacle, and the title of "Modern Revelation" points to metaphysical meaning. Although this film is undoubtedly inspired by "Dark Heart", it is indeed different from European culture (German-style war alienation focuses on aesthetics, especially opera-style life impulses). American culture is more violent and emphasizes autonomy. In alienation, the sense of autonomy is particularly strong. Kurtz is regarded as a lunatic ("The colonel is a lunatic, worse than mad, a demon"), but in terms of his self-awareness when alienated, he is still a typical American. This has nothing to do with others (Vietnam in the film is an orientalized Middle Ages or even primitive society), it is about self. This sense of meaninglessness and alienation has brought about profound trauma. It has not been seen in the American war against the Indians and the subsequent war on terrorism. It is an endless void.