The physical journey into the jungle that took place in the film Apocalypse Now directed by Francis Ford Coppola, was shadowed by the psychological journey that Captain Benjamin Willard went through in his search for Colonel Kurtz. The expedition became a physical chase for Kurtz, but also a symbolic journey in which Captain Willard confronted his own darkness.
The journey began in a cluttered hotel room in Saigon, where an intoxicated Captain Willard is desperate for an assignment. His mental state resembles his physical state as he comes to terms with the madness of war and its effect on his sanity. Captain Willard internally struggles with the horrors he experienced during his first tour in Vietnam. He returned to the war once it was clear …show more content…
The journey itself became as important as the destination. Without the events that led to Kurtz, one cannot say that Captain Willard would have taken the same actions. Captain Willard narrates, “Part of me was afraid of what I would find and what I would do when I got there. I knew the risks, or imagined I knew. But the thing I felt the most, much stronger than fear, was the desire to confront him.” Through the journey Captain Willard was able to relate to Kurtz and in this understanding of him, made the choice to complete his mission and leave the compound. In confronting Kurtz, Willard also had to confront his own actions and the decisions that lead him to Kurtz.
Many would argue that the journey to Kurtz may be the most important element of the film. The journey through the wilderness symbolized Captain Willard’s journey into his own darkness. It was the journey, not the destination that showed the audience the brutality of the Vietnam War. Willard, like the hundreds of other soldiers that lost their morality and sanity due to the war, was hunted by the lack of humanity he encountered, that he soon began to lose his own. Through the duration of the journey the madness of war is shown in the altered state of Captain Willard and in the frantic chaos in the world around
The journey began in a cluttered hotel room in Saigon, where an intoxicated Captain Willard is desperate for an assignment. His mental state resembles his physical state as he comes to terms with the madness of war and its effect on his sanity. Captain Willard internally struggles with the horrors he experienced during his first tour in Vietnam. He returned to the war once it was clear …show more content…
The journey itself became as important as the destination. Without the events that led to Kurtz, one cannot say that Captain Willard would have taken the same actions. Captain Willard narrates, “Part of me was afraid of what I would find and what I would do when I got there. I knew the risks, or imagined I knew. But the thing I felt the most, much stronger than fear, was the desire to confront him.” Through the journey Captain Willard was able to relate to Kurtz and in this understanding of him, made the choice to complete his mission and leave the compound. In confronting Kurtz, Willard also had to confront his own actions and the decisions that lead him to Kurtz.
Many would argue that the journey to Kurtz may be the most important element of the film. The journey through the wilderness symbolized Captain Willard’s journey into his own darkness. It was the journey, not the destination that showed the audience the brutality of the Vietnam War. Willard, like the hundreds of other soldiers that lost their morality and sanity due to the war, was hunted by the lack of humanity he encountered, that he soon began to lose his own. Through the duration of the journey the madness of war is shown in the altered state of Captain Willard and in the frantic chaos in the world around