Apocalypse Now Francis Ford Coppola

Nineteen Eighty-Four written by George Orwell and Gattaca directed by Andrew Niccol are prophetic social commentaries which explore the broad social wrong of a totalitarian government. Both texts depict a futuristic, dystopian society in which individuality is destroyed in favour of faceless conformity. Niccol and Orwell through the experiences of their protagonists reflect the impact isolation from society has on individuals. The authors of both texts also use their protagonists Winston, who cannot understand the rhetoric of the government party and Vincent, who is trapped, unable to achieve his dreams because of his imperfect genome, to demonstrate individual rebellion against society and explore the significant social injustices of a

Altman also uses dialogue in a similar manor. The nature of dialogue itself is solely for creating and upholding the self image of the “Nashville Star” weather you are one or not. The conversations never get passed the surface issues, and no one ever speaks their mind unless it’s safe. But, the reality of each character is very real and deep due to the way the dialogue was set up. Most of the people were frivolous so in order to add some depth and reveal their true character Altman had to make the dialogue as realistic as possible. The dialogue seemed almost unrehearsed or not planned at all which gives it its reality. The most odious example of this is when the Hal Walker representative is arguing about the political sign with Barbra Gene’s husband at Centennial Park. He slips on his line in the heat of the argument. I don’t know if this was intentional or not, but I think they chose to keep it in the movie because it seemed to be more true to reality than just a smooth flowing argument that would normally be in a movie. The little slip gave way, for the first time, a vulnerable side to the Hal Walker rep or even politics for that matter.

In the first place his is not the typical movie that you usually seeing, this movie is the beginning of an era of people looking to progress and be better.

In Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now, both Joseph Conrad and Francis Ford Coppola create similar statements through their creations as they both centralize their views upon the effects of environmental changes that affect the human condition. The film Apocalypse Now vaguely reflects a similar message pursued by Conrad’s novella, due to the difference in time period, place setting, and circumstances in which the film was created. Conrad wrote his novella during British colonization, focusing upon imperialism. Coppola’s film similarly focused upon the barbaric nature of man, which demonstrates the insanity of the Vietnam War. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad centers his main focus upon the journey of Marlow, a sailor, who travels into

Saving Private Ryan is a theatrical masterpiece that incorporates many universal themes that almost all people can relate to. The movie follows a squad of U.S. soldiers as they battle through the trenches of World War II. Directed by the great Stephen Spielberg, the movie is claimed by many to be the most accurate presentation of war in any movie to date. The movie includes several themes that helps captivate the audience and truly help people understand just how horrible war is. The idea of losing loved ones frightens even the toughest of us, and being lost in a foreign land scares many others. Both of these themes are thoroughly explored and propelled onto the audience to experience. The extremely accurate depiction of war, the universal themes that everyone can relate to, and the film being a theatrical masterpiece are all reasons why everyone should watch Saving Private Ryan.

This paper will be discussing the two movies The Green Berets (1968) and Apocalypse Now (1978), and argue how The Green Berets is a propagandist pro-war film depicting the unrealities of the Vietnam War while Apocalypse Now is an ambiguous anti-war film that shows the social and political absurdities of the Vietnam War.

The power and prestige of this film comes not from its controversial and serious subject matter, but from the unbiased way in which the story is

When Joseph Conrad sat down to write Heart of Darkness over a century ago he decided to set his tale amidst his own country's involvement in the African Congo. Deep in the African jungle his character would make his journey to find the Captain gone astray. Over eighty years later Francis Ford Coppola's Willard would take his journey not in Afica but in the jungles of South Asia. Coppola's Film, Apocalypse Now uses the backdrop of the American Vietnam War yet the similarities between the Conrad's novel and Coppola's film remains constant and plenty.

The film, Radical Evil, by Stefan Ruzowitzky, argues that there is genocidal potential in each of us. Personal responsibility is not lost, but rather shown through the courage to step out or the willingness to conform. Radical Evil attempts to explain conformity through a series of psychological tests such as the Milgram Experiment and the Asch Conformity Test. Through psychologists, sociologists, historians, and primary sources, the film suggests that everyone is capable of murder or genocide given the right environment such as military orders or the atmosphere of war. Essentially, the perpetrator becomes the victim of their own psyche and circumstances. However, allowing the Einsatzgruppen, or any other Nazi affiliated group, to assume

of the movie expressing good and evil is when General Corman says, "Because there's a

Many filmmakers choose to use both formalistic elements and realistic elements into their film to convey an idea. These two types of film classifications do not impede a director from incorporating both elements into the overarching structure of the film. However, some films such as the widely acclaimed formalistic film, The Seventh Seal, stick extremely well within their film medium. A few films that exemplify tendencies of both formalism and realism are The Seventh Seal directed by Ingmar Bergman, North directed by Northwest by Alfred Hitchcock, and Do the Right Thing directed by Spike Lee. These films all have a similar protagonist who is searching for their identity throughout the film. These films are able to convey through formalistic and realistic cinematic techniques the characters search and understanding of their own life.

At first glance, The Book of Eli appears to be just another violent post-apocalyptic film from Hollywood. But beyond the bloody scenes and foul language, audiences will discover a compelling story filled with more biblical references and Christian thought than any other major motion picture in recent years.

Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now lacks the impact of its inspiration, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. While the basic elements of imperialism and human nature remain intact, the characters of the film bare little resemblance to their literary counterparts. The film serves as a re-interpretation of Conrad’s novella, updated from 19th-century British imperialism in the Congo to a critique of 20th-century U.S. imperialism in Southeast Asia. Coppola’s changes in setting and plot structure, however, force the film to sacrifice the character development so crucial in the literary work. This detracts from the overall effectiveness of the film.

      In both Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness certain elements of darkness attempt to show how deep one must look inside themselves to discover the truth. Conrad portrays the idea of the darkness of the human heart through things such as the interior of the jungle and it's immensity, the Inner Station, and Kurtz's own twisted deeds. Coppola's heart of darkness is represented by the madness of the Vietnam War and how even to look for a purpose in it all; is itself quite mad.

‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ (Wes Anderson, 2014) combines a perfect mix of nostalgia and history. The film explores the themes of war as it recreates history through mise-en-scene. Anderson also incorporates other themes such as racism and elitism during pre-war Europe. The film widely explores Europe from many viewpoints, one of which is of Mr Moustafa. His nostalgia is seen through flashbacks of when he was a lobby boy that went by the name of Zero. As an audience the depth of his nostalgia is seen through mise-en-scene. With the help of cinematography and props we see can see the time and place that Moustafa acknowledges. Anderson shows how history is reimagined through ones nostalgia. Mr Moustafa recalls events, which he was not present in yet he explains them as if he were there. This also shows how one reimagines history from another due to emotions and personal attachment. Despite the outcome being the same there are many viewpoints it can be seen from.