Brilliant Excursion Into The Heart of Darkness!

Rating: Null/10 (30 January 2003)

My highest praise goes to Francis Ford Coppola! In this movie, he has
hit upon Joseph Conrad's true intention better than one thousand
English teachers lecturing together could have.
I first read Heart of Darkness in high school. At that time, the words
and images seemed as strange and fleeting as those in a dream. I
struggled to make sense of what I was reading. The entire story seemed unreal, as though what I were reading couldn't really be happening.

After seeing "Apocalypse Now: Redux," the meaning of Heart of Darkness, the original literary source of the movie, has become clear to me. The novel seems convoluted and confused because the author's intent is to
show the deepest depths of darkness in human nature and the despair and
confusion of the human mind when confronted by amorphous, total evil.

Coppola brilliantly sets the action and commentary in the movie against
the backdrop of the jungles of Southeast Asia and the Vietnam War.
In that milieu, the images and action unfold in the same nightmarish
way as they do in Conrad's novel. I think Joseph Conrad would be
pleasantly surprised and maybe even grateful at the way Coppola has
brought his novel to life.
The characters jump out at you: Captain Willard and the men under his
command, the men and women of the French plantation, the photojournalist apostle of Kurtz, to the irrepressible essence of darkest evil
personified by Kurtz himself.
"The horror. . . the horror. . . ." These words uttered by Kurtz
capture the essence of the movie and the novel. The presence of evil
nags at us, disquiets us, disturbs us vaguely, even in our most peaceful and secure moments. The dark side of human nature demands a serious
consideration. It will not let us flee. Its influence, its dark,
brooding shadow, is everywhere: in the jungle, in our hearts, in our
souls.
Conrad knew nothing of the Vietnam War, or even the two world wars. He
lived before them. But I'm sure that he could appreciate the perfect
atmosphere for his novel that total war provides. Coppola is a great
illuminator of Conrad's intention and his own in "Apocalypse Now." A fine touch, a superb touch, worthy of an Oscar. The movie and the
book, though controversial, are memorable on many levels.