Caravaggio, The Taking of Christ, 1602

Caravaggio, The Taking of Christ, 1602
Tenebrism

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Apocalypse Now (blog 4)

          The movie was great. It is about Army Captain Willard, who's primary action is to kill Kurtz. He spends the rest of the movie watching intently of what occurs in the jungle. In his narration, he points out the disturbing ironies of war and attempts to insert a notion of morality. As he becomes more alert to the absurdities of war and the darkness of human nature, so do we.
         A major result of war is PTSD. PTSD is Post- traumatic stress disorder is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event. Symptoms may include flashbacks nightmares and severe anxiety. An example from the movie is when there's the fan above his head which seems to be giving out helicopter sounds. This is saying that he can't escape Vietnam and its insanity even when he's not out there fighting. fan above his head which seems to be giving out helicopter sounds. This is saying that he can't escape Vietnam and it's insanity even when he's not out there fighting. I couldn't imagine if it were me suffering from this.
        One thing that I was confused about was the ending but after thinking about it I was able to understand it more clearly.  I also didn't understand why he didn't say anything to the people, instead he decided to just leave. Except after I thought about it he had said more with his expression than he could with words. When  Willard finally makes it to Kurtz, he discovers that the colonel has gone insane and sees himself as a 'god', lording over the indigenous occupants in that part of the jungle. The film shows that Willard has left one hell for another, the hell of war for the hell of the tortured human psyche. What I noticed about the ending was the suspense showing the death of Kurtz, by how the director played the dark sounds to make it come more alive. 

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