Blog Post #5 - Apocalypse Then and Now

Apocalypse Now was a film adaptation of the novella Heart of Darkness, moving the setting from colonial Africa to the Vietnam War. Apart from the obvious parallels, (i.e. Kurtz and "the horror"), the two share many similarities. Most notable is the journey into the unknown. In both the novella and the film, this journey travels up a river from a known outpost at the shore to the unknown in the jungle. In both stories, once the narrator finds Kurtz, he finds a strange outpost where Kurtz rules as a revered deity among the natives, Congolese in Heart of Darkness and Cambodians in Apocalypse Now.
Heart of Darkness is told through a frame story in which the narrator, Marlow, tells of his adventures into the heart of Africa to an audience of travelers aboard his ship. Likewise, in Apocalypse Now, the central character, Captain Willard, narrates his story to the audience framing his story and adding a personal touch to it, like Marlow does in Heart of Darkness.

To be continued...