An obvious difference between the novella Heart of Darkness and the movie Apocalypse Now is the change in setting. The movie is based on the premise of the novel though is not an exact movie adaptation and the time period, setting and characters are altered for thematic purposes.
Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a commentary on European imperialism during the late 1800s and is set in the Belgian Congo while Coppola’s Apocalypse Now is set during the Vietnam War in Vietnam. This is a significant difference between the two, however, despite these large changes, the thematic elements of the two works remain the same. Both examine a sort of western conquest and the brutal nature of war and conquest as well as the obvious futility of the killing. While the natives in the Congo in HOD are killed by overwork, guns and torture, the Vietnamese in Apocalypse are subjected to the warfare of helicopters and bombs. The time periods are different but the effect much the same: the native people are overwhelmed and unable to defend themselves against the senseless killing.
The change in setting for the movie is appropriate and relates to a more recent time period. The similar events and themes draw a parallel between the European imperialism and American foreign policy.
Despite the change in setting, the effect of the unknown jungle is much the same. The Vietnamese setting and the river are similar to the atmosphere in HoD where the soldiers are lost and aimlessly searching for their objective in the mysterious jungle. Also like the Congolese in HoD, the Vietnamese are not well represented as actual characters or people or rather as props. They are easily killed and brushed aside without becoming actual people as the bodies pile up. Both these larger thematic elements serve a larger purpose and remain constant between the two works despite the different time period and setting. Both works achieve similar objectives through slightly different lenses.
No comments:
Post a Comment