...Ramandeep Kaur Essay Assignment ARTS-2000-0BW In this essay, I will be analysing two sequences from two different films. The first sequence is the last scene from the movie “Apocalypse now” directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The movie depicts the story of war, not as much the war between Vietnamese but the war within us. At first, movie appears very realistic and formalist and by the end, it is appearing symbolic as during the final scene Benjamin Willard finally killed colonel Kurtz and On the other hand ceremony of slaughtering the buffalo was happening at the same time which illustrate both scenes as one symbolic event. There are few editing techniques that worked well in this film are Sergei Eisenstein’s creative editing techniques who is a famous Soviet filmmaker. Eisenstein’s discovered three types of montage that is Rhythmic montage, Tonal Montage and intellectual montage which is also called conceptual or thematic montage. Eisenstein’s philosophy of intellectual montage which explain a way of editing that could form relation and symbols to two different shots created from juxtaposition. At the end, these two images of shooting and killing of Colonel Kurtz while Villagers were performing the ritual of slaughtering the water buffalo combined to make the connection between the viewers signifying the execution of civilian was more like a vulnerable slaughter. Another editing technique that greatly worked in this film is Rhythmic montage which is editing on the basis...
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...The effects of war on both the body and mind are clearly portrayed in both Taxi Driver and Apocalypse Now. We also see war in film with a negative twist, we see the chaos, the mental decay both during and after the war is finished. These are not your classic Saving Private Ryan films, where the Americans come in and clean house. These films show the psychotic side of war, how some people come back to society and cannot function like the rest of society. These films portray war as an ugly disturbing event, which affects both the soldiers and the people back home. In Taxi Driver, we learn about Vietnam Veteran Travis Bickle. As the film unravels we see how Vietnam affects both soldiers and Americans. We come to see a split society, young against...
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...Heart of Darkness Essay Light and dark imagery is one element most commonly used in literature, and has held specific symbolic meanings for hundreds of years. Simply stated, light generally symbolizes good, while darkness symbolizes the complete opposite, evil. More specifically, Conrad uses detailed imagery of light and dark to show that white men can in fact be more savage than the natives. While the contrast of light and dark, white and black, and good and evil is a common theme in his novel, Conrad reverses the meanings of the two. In his story often the light is viewed as more menacing and evil than the darkness, and the white characters more spiteful than the black. In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad uses light and dark imagery and the reversing of their regular meanings as a main focal point throughout the novel. Conrad establishes throughout this the theme that not everything is as it seems. Conrad uses light imagery as a symbol of civilization. Darkness is defined as the absence of light just like the black jungle is defined as the absence of white man’s civilization, a civilization full of corruption and evil. Conrad’s first description of Brussels is an example of this. “In a very few hours I arrived at a city that always made me think of a white sepulcher.” It is significant that Conrad describes the building as a white coffin, because the job there is sending men out to retrieve ivory, ultimately resulting in their death. This cycle of evil begins and ends in...
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...David Santamaria Ms. Pasonelli AP English 7 November 2015 Light vs Darkness: The Irony within Heart of Darkness Through history there has always been a battle between good and evil, light and dark, the innocent and the guilty. Many times authors, spanning over a wide range of genres have embedded this battle into their stories. Joseph Conrad, did just that in his creation of Heart of Darkness. Amongst the deep jungles of the Congo River, Conrad places Marlow into a world where darkness dominates everyday life. Marlow throughout the story is seen to have pure intentions and can be seen as a symbol of light, whereas Kurtz who has been amongst the heart of the Congo for various years, can be seen as the embodiment of darkness. Now, the distinction of light and dark, good and evil, innocent and guilty, is not only represented between Marlow and Kurtz, but also by Kurtz’s intended and his mistress of the darkness from Africa. Conrad in the depiction of these characters uses irony to show that light is representative of ignorance and naivety whereas darkness is the embodiment of the truth and experience. To be naïve is to show lack of experience. This trait lies at the heart of every man and woman as well as boy and girl. Naivety goes hand in hand with ignorance and can often be seen as an embodiment of innocence as well as purity, which are representative of light. Marlow within Heart of Darkness, ultimately proves to be naïve as well as ignorant throughout various times...
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...Vi people. Jake, one of the main characters in the movie, becomes more and more like them with every encounter with the alien race. The film, Avatar, depicts the differences between characters and their views on nature and the world. Most of the humans are portrayed as arrogant and selfish, showing no remorce or respect for the indigenous people or their environment. In contrast, the Na'Vi people love their mother planet, Pandora, and live in harmony with each other and all its creatures because they respect it. During the first couple of scenes in the movie, you can already get the feeling that money and greed drives the humans. Jake, the protagonist, was an exMarine that got wounded in combat and is now paralyzed and discovered that his twin brother has passed upon recovery. While attending the cremation ceremony he is approached by two employees of Resources Development Alliance (RDA). They explain to Jake that his brother was a part of the scientific group working with the miners on Pandora. The two RDA workers refer to Jake's brother as a...
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...Heart of Darkness There are many themes that run through the novel Heart of Darkness. There are however two main and significant ones. These are the theme of restraint and man's journey into self. The importance of restraint is stressed throughout Heart of Darkness. In the novel Marlow is saved by restraint, while Kurtz is doomed by his lack of it. Marlow felt different about Africa before he went, because the colonization of the Congo had "an idea at the back of it." Despite an uneasiness, he assumed that restraint would operate there. He soon reaches the Company station and receives his first shock, everything there seems meaningless. He sees no evidence here of that "devotion to efficiency" that makes the idea work. In the middle of this, Marlow meets a "miracle". The chief accountant has the restraint that it takes to get the job done. He keeps up his appearance and his books are in "apple-pie order." Marlow respects this fellow because he has a backbone. "The cannibals some of those ignorant millions, are almost totally characterized by restraint." They outnumber the whites "thirty to five" and could easily fill their starving bellies. Marlow "would have as soon expected restraint from a hyena prowling amongst the corpses of a battlefield." The cannibal’s action is "one of those human secrets that baffle probability." This helps Marlow keep his restraint, for if the natives can possess this quality Marlow feels he certainly can. Kurtz is...
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...Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness presents a character that appears to be above all others in society and enlightened according to Carl Jung’s idea of individuation; however, the character, Kurtz was an extremely unexceptional man. He wasn’t a mover, part of the 1%, or enlightened; ultimately, he knew how to say the right words to convince people and himself of these titles. In the very end not even Kurtz knew who he truly was due to him trying to change himself and putting all of his efforts trying to be someone else. Kurtz adapted to the situations he was presented with and acted in a way that offered the best results for him personally. Like a chameleon Kurtz’s survival instincts led him to learn how to change and shift to match the people he was with in order to manipulate them into idolizing him. There is not much presented about Kurtz from the narrator or Marlow’s accounts of him but there is enough information provided to discern the many different accounts of Kurtz and realize that there was no concrete version of “Kurtz”. The desire for acceptance and individuation resulted in the creation of a persona of an individuated person and Kurtz trying to adapt in a way that unlike the chameleon was meant for him to stand out. As a consequence of his actions many of the first nations learnt firsthand how someone's dark side can drive them to do unspeakable things. In addition, because of Kurtz's unconscious attempts at adaptation he ended up being the perfect portrayal of the...
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...Heart of Darkness is a book mostly narrated by Marlow, a very introverted sailor. The book focused on his voyage through the Congo River to meet Kurtz (who had a reputation to be a idealist legend and a man of great means). Marlow gets hired as a riverboat captain for a Belgian company whose interest lies in making profits by trading in the Congo colony. During his journey through Africa followed by Congo, he is whiteness to multiple inequalities, lack of maintenance and brutalities in the Company’s stations. His journey makes him mature as an individual as he is confronted with many physical and emotional conflicts with a variety of characters, “cultivated or savages”. At the time Heart of Darkness was written, the British Empire was at its utmost highest peak, the phrase “the sun never sets on the British Empire” was even coined after this powerful empire and was quite literally true. Heart of Darkness expresses the theme of imperialism (how a nation seizes control and exerts influence over other regions through the means of economic, military, and political power. The protagonist conveys mainstream belief that imperialism is a glorious model to follow and to undertake. Indeed, in Conrad’s time, the word “empire” was considered on of the core values of British people, a basic term through which Great Britain could be identified and find a sense of purpose. The author attaches enough importance to the word Darkness for it to conceptually be on the cover of the book. However...
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...In the end of the novella when Kurtz is dying his last words are “The Horror! The Horror!” (305). This is both an affirmation and a moral victory for Kurtz before death. An affirmation is the act of affirming something or being affirmed. In other words it’s coming to a realization about the truth of an act or saying. A moral victory is a defeat that can be taken or seen as a victory on the terms of their morality. As Kurtz is about to die he sees all that he has done in the congo to others. “To speak plainly, he raided the country,’ I said. He nodded. ‘Not alone, surely!’ He muttered something about the villages round that lake. ‘Kurtz got the tribe to follow him,did he?’ I suggested. He fidgeted a little. ‘they adored him,’ he said.” (Marlow 294). At the end of his life Kurtz thought of all the things he had done and had come to an affirmation. An affirmation of all the people he had killed, had stolen from, and had been rude to while living in the congo. That is why he says the first “The horror” on page three hundred and five. The second one has to deal with his moral victory. Because he had seen all that he had done and realised the horrible and awful things that went on in that jungle he came to an affirmation. Then he realised that he was the one that had done these things to people. This is where his morality comes in. At the beginning of the story it says that he had come to serve a great purpose and that he was there for the idea of helping people. That he would be...
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...Evaluating A Story: “The Things They Carried”, By Tim O’Brien The Vietnam War really tested the emotions of the soldiers who deployed there. “The Things They Carried” explained from the physical items carried to the emotional burdens of soldiers fighting in Vietnam. Tim O’Brien, the author had also served time over in Vietnam. This story gives the reader a good understanding of the daily things that can occur. Even if it is abrupt and traumatic, the soldiers have to carry on to continue their mission. Tim O’Brien really writes with a simple style. The sentences themselves were not very long, but more so to the point. He had explained things in detail, but it was not overly done. I thought the style of writing went well with the soldiers mindsets of the checklist of events that go along with their lives over there. From getting one thing done to another, as simple as it is, the sentences complimented the events that played a long. The word choices were with good vocabulary, and they didn’t require anything higher than a high school education. He used several military abbreviations that one outside of the military may not understand (example: PFC stands for Private First Class). The tone of the story is sadness. Realizing the events that happen over in a war zone can be really sad. It is a shock to read about a man, an American Soldier just fall down and die. There was also emotional shock with some of the soldiers who had to just shrug it off, and even the shock of realizing...
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...Throughout the two novels, Thomas Hardy’s “Tess of the d’Urbervilles” and Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” the common theme of oppression by using psychological methods prevails. Tess’ parents and Alec can control her by leveraging guilt as a way of victimization which ultimately seals her fate. Mr. Kurtz in” Heart of Darkness” takes control over the weaker African natives to force them into submission. Both stories have this underlying theme of power and domination resulting in feelings of slavery and victims of fate. “Tess of the d’Urbervilles” is a tale of the tragic life of Tess that results when she accidentally kills Prince, the family horse. Tess’ parents use the guilt that she feels to exploit her and force her to work for the family. Therefore, she encounters Alec, who ultimately rapes and impregnates Tess. Instead of Alec being condemned for his actions, Tess is publically criticized and cast aside for this act, even though she was the victim. The cruel hand of fate hangs over all the characters and actions of the novel, as Tess’ story is defined by the bad things that happen to her. Thomas Hardy himself, as the author of the book, naturally causes the many unfair coincidences and plot twists that beset Tess, however as the person telling the story, he also manages to appear as her only champion against an unjust world. Tess's difficult situations are described as mere sport for the "President of the People who will never die," which is very...
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...Joseph Tanaka Dr. Whipple Eng 150 Apocalypse Now Review The sound of machine guns, the whirl of helicopter blades, and “the smell of napalm in the morning” makes Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola look like a traditional, action-packed Vietnam War movie. However, upon further examination, the film reveals a much deeper, ominous, and senseless reality that realistically depicts the Vietnam War. Apocalypse Now is a masterpiece of the nineteen sixty counter culture movement that is transposed into the characters of the Vietnam War. The aspects of Apocalypse Now that make it one of the most horrifying movies of the Vietnam era are the characters, the plot, and the setting. The horrifying way human beings treat one another is an enduring quality present in the characters Apocalypse Now. Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore’s Ninth Air Calvary embodies the brutality of the war because of his callous attack on a village filled with non combative residents. In the scene of the helicopter attack on the Mekong Delta village, a Vietnamese villager comes up to an American helicopter loading a wounded soldier and throws a hat with a grenade inside, blowing up everyone inside. Upon seeing this attack by a single villager, Kilgore exclaims, “Holy Christ she’s a savage, somebody get that Dink!” and a group of helicopters decimate her family trying to run away. Not only ruthless was Kilgore’s response but also the amusement that his own soldiers felt while shooting the woman and other innocent civilians...
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...will be investigating the use of Walter Murch’s Sound design on Apocalypse Now (1979) and The Conversation (1974) whiles exploring the use of different sound aesthetics found in a scene from each film. Examining these different techniques will shed light on just how much it affects the nature of the film itself and it’s audience through an audio-visual perspective. Apocalypse now has a fascinating use of sound that conveys tension, character subjectivity and at times suggests a psychoneurotic mind state in which diegetic/non-diegetic sound and music together alludes. How does Murch use sound and music to push the films narrative? In what way does Murch’s theories on sound help us understand the way in which it helps shape its accompanying visuals on screen or vis-versa. This will form part of a theoretical inquiry into sound in cinema as a whole whiles looking at the possible outcomes of a film without the use of some of these groundbreaking methods. Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola is set during the Vietnam war, Cpt. Willard travels up the Nung River in Cambodia to kill Colonel Kurtz as part of top secret mission that apparently ‘doesn’t exist’. Apocalypse Now is widely regarded as a timeless masterpiece, unsurprisingly gaining Walter Murch an Oscar for his work on the beautifully orchestrated sound mix. Right from the start Murch describes his approach to this film as ‘jumping with both feet into the fire’ (Jarrett & Murch, 2000). This expression sums up...
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...Platoon In the movie Platoon from 1986, the battles of the Vietnam War are shown. In the movie we follow the young and inexperienced soldier Chris Taylor, who is going through a lot of struggles being in the fields. When we get to know the soldiers one by one, the movie shows how the relationships between the soldiers are not always equal and very solidary. In the beginning the platoon is separated by three groups; the black ones, the young and new ones and the experienced, who leads the agenda in the platoon. Later on the two sergeants Barnes and Elias disagrees about how the battle against the Vietnamese should proceed. This leads to Sgt. Barnes killing Sgt. Elias illegally. The death of Sgt. Elias leads to an even bigger division in the platoon, because the soldiers is forced to “choose which side they’re on” and what really happened with Sgt. Elias. The final battle in the movie is a long and intense part of the movie. Everything becomes very chaotic between the soldiers and the battle becomes a fight for your own survival, where you can’t trust anyone. The battle shows how many soldiers both Vietnamese and American, who didn’t make it out of the violent bloodbath. During the movie Chris Taylor has always tolerated everything that has been decided around him, even though he didn’t agree. At the end of the movie he put his foot dowm and killed Sgt. Barnes as a symbol of justice for Sgt. Elias. Chris Taylor survives and is flown away from the war. When he is sitting in the...
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...Rodger clutched his phone tightly in hopes that someone retrieved his distress signal from deep within the Kakadu Jungle. Sweat drizzled down his forehead as he plunged through the thick terrain of evergreen extending bushes. Licking his lips occasionally to take in the last of his bodily fluids. His face was bright red with signs of an allergic reaction that had taken place due to the bug bites he was getting. The sounds of the jungle terrified him, yet he kept walking with pure faith that he would make it. His Safari Camo Jungle Vest was unfortunately no use to his situation. What once held flare sticks and safety aid items was now torn to shreds by a vicious creature whom claws reached the lengths of a grown man’s pointer finger. Rodger barely escaped the...
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