Story Analysis: Allegory of the Cave meets Odyssey meets modern war

-Apocalypse Now’s opening scenes could be no clearer as to how the movie will pan out, it is immediately evident that it will be a tale of destruction and rapid decimation of potential paradise. Coppola, in my historically backed opinion did an excellent job in depicting the mayhemic nature of the Vietnam War. In Copola’s own words, “My movie is not about Vietnam…my movie is Vietnam”. In essence, the signature motifs and themes that were central to the movie were based on the question of how far man was willing to go into their own realm of darkness, it questioned the unspoken realities of warfare (everything is malicious and brutal) and similarly to “Batman” toyed with the traditional protagonist/antagonist role.

Protagonist/Antagonist: Historically from an American perspective, the Vietnam War was a tale of American defense of democracy against the straits of demonic communism being pursued by VietCongs as they attempted to dismantle the Vietnamese government.In this movie, it can quite easily be assumed that Vietnam’s government and the US military will be the heroes of the story. Contrary to this thought, Coppola correctly depicts the manner and nature of the war, every time the  different/new infantries of the army you see a consistent reintroduction of savagery and evil, in fact there is rarely if ever any direct contact with the VietCongs at least in a manner in which they are seen as savage. In fact, in every interaction with the natives of the land, you see the American troops (the supposed crusaders of justice) behaving as inhumanely as possible. This is not simply a tale of destruction rather a tale of banality of violence, and seeing to which point we can become most banal while maintaining sanity.
This is where Kurtz, Willard, and quotes like “never get off the boat” and Kurtz’s quotes like “horror and moral terror are your friends and if not they are truly enemies to be feared” kicks in to the forefront. The boat throughout the movie reflects the idea that the deeper you go, the more lost you get, so when you leave the boat completely you have left your humanity. This is the inherent contradictions of war, often fought in the idea of the proper way to live contrasting lives, a quest for the civilized and full pursuit for humanity…however to get there the winning army must act in the most inhumane way. Kurtz reflects the dedicated patriot, once lost in the darkness but still on the boat of humanity…he returned from Saigon before reaching the apex of what he thought a soldier to be, someone willing to die for their country. Willard on the other hand represents the soldier who will go to any distance to attain victory for the states. He essentially came out of retirement to fight Vietnam, because the United States just wasn’t doing it right. In the eyes of war, Kurtz is the protagonist and the further Willard goes up the river he realizes it and almost becomes Kurtz. His transformation into a true warrior is when he sacrifices Willard for the greater good of the war.