I think Lance survived and even thrived as time went on because his brain was operating on an almost unconscious (primitive to use Kurtz's word) level and he was percieving things that nobody else was. When the locals are screaming at the boat from the shores of the river, everybody freaks out except Lance, who joins with the screams, completely in tune with the vibe.
I remember seeing someone liken their travel on boat to a sort of time machine. How every stop they make along the way to Kurtz's eventual death is them going further back. It ties in well with the director's assertion that them coating their boat with materials from around the jungle is them becoming more and more primitive.
The movie is ultimately deontological morality vs utilitarian. Kurtz is a utilitarian and feels that if one is to engage in immoral acts they should not obfuscate them with pompous justifications or compensatory acts of altruism toward the enemy. Someone like Kilgore will annihilate a village to go surfing, but patch up an injured baby as if to make up for it. The PBR crew massacre some young fishers and deliberate on rescuing one of the near-dead survivors. The americans dump ungodly amounts of money and military might into the war but since their actual fighting force has zero will to actually fight the war, the inundate them with luxuries to incentivize action. As Willard points out, the utilitarian Vietnamese have no need for an incentive as their only outcome in the war is victory or death. I could say a lot more. Anyway i just feel like Kurtz isn't evil, even if i could never truly align with his utilitarian morality. Anyone who counts lying as a cardinal sin is an automatic win for me.
Kurtz isn't evil. Kurtz is the War itself. Since the dawn of man, people fought wars, and no suprise - followers of Kurtz are primitive men. War is part of human nature.
Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now (all versions), especially Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, were my inspiration for portraying Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York in OrangeMite Studios's War of the Roses, among other things. Awesome video, btw
@@CinemaAutopsy Spoilers: I die halfway thru, but my sons avenge me, although I'd keep an eye on my namesake, cuz it ain't just his back that's crooked lol ruclips.net/video/o4sV4sy2rDE/видео.htmlsi=Ll_9pNysIFn2TvPw ruclips.net/video/3jqo_xCS2So/видео.htmlsi=wdRASxMv-HOsk3Oe Btw, I just auditioned for Richard III, and I'm gunning for Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, who'd later become Henry VII, and you could draw comparisons between him and Willard, especially cuz I donned my "war face" for it, so wish me luck 😅
I didn't see it as that people are evil at heart and just have a good facade around them, but rather that people are good at heart but Kurtz intentionally strayed from the human compassionate way to do what must be done in his eyes. But by straying too far from the human kind, he has gone insane.
Kurtz approached an insane world with clarity. it was malaria that took him. As willard said, Kurtz only answered to the jungle. Prehaps the film is about the transformation after breaking points?
@@CinemaAutopsy In the film he states that he could win the war with a fourth of the soldiers in the right mindset. I think then the Snail = US and Vietnam = Razor analogy works. They are going to lose because they are a snail fighting a war they are indecisive about, unaware that they have already lost against the razor.
@@evo2542 well I dont know... that kind of interpretation is a bit too on the nose in my opinion. Not sure how it's that relevant for what Kurtz describes as "my nightmare".
I would say it could be a Vietcong while Razor is the US. Hence the Snail surviving on the edge of a razor . Also fits with Willard's thoughts about only two ways, home victory or death. As Snail slowly goes it's way.
Brilliant analysis and reflection. It would be fascinating to hear your rumination on either Malick's THE TREE OF LIFE or Mann's HEAT. Or you may want to even consider the superb film NARC with Ray Liotta and Jason Patric.
I always felt an excellent English class assignment would be to write a short story about what happens to Willard and Lance on the return journey -- and possibly later in life back in the states after the war. We never get any answers, and can only speculate.
“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.” - Blaise Pascal, Pensées VII(425) What man does is a result of him dealing with this vacuum. When he tries to fill it with things of this world, he finds it unfulfilling and moves on to the next thing to try until he comes to one of two conclusions: one of nihilism and one of worship of God himself. The actions of Willard, et.al., are just transactions executed by empty (hollow men) men breaking (at whatever pace) when faced with their choice of nihilism.
Do you enjoy war movies? Then check out my essay on The Thin Red Line: ruclips.net/video/ZCrMXFbyYdQ/видео.html
The war as a surreal dreamscape.
I think Lance survived and even thrived as time went on because his brain was operating on an almost unconscious (primitive to use Kurtz's word) level and he was percieving things that nobody else was.
When the locals are screaming at the boat from the shores of the river, everybody freaks out except Lance, who joins with the screams, completely in tune with the vibe.
It helps to be a brainless surfer.
I remember seeing someone liken their travel on boat to a sort of time machine. How every stop they make along the way to Kurtz's eventual death is them going further back. It ties in well with the director's assertion that them coating their boat with materials from around the jungle is them becoming more and more primitive.
Fascinating.
That was actually a major theme of the book the movie is based on. "Heart of Darkness" if i recall correctly.
This is a major theme in Heart of Darkness. Marlow mentions it quite a few times.
@@agnel47 correct
One of the best, easy to understand videos looking into the themes of this film. This deserves more views and credit. Amazing work here!
Thanks a bunch !
The movie is ultimately deontological morality vs utilitarian. Kurtz is a utilitarian and feels that if one is to engage in immoral acts they should not obfuscate them with pompous justifications or compensatory acts of altruism toward the enemy.
Someone like Kilgore will annihilate a village to go surfing, but patch up an injured baby as if to make up for it. The PBR crew massacre some young fishers and deliberate on rescuing one of the near-dead survivors. The americans dump ungodly amounts of money and military might into the war but since their actual fighting force has zero will to actually fight the war, the inundate them with luxuries to incentivize action. As Willard points out, the utilitarian Vietnamese have no need for an incentive as their only outcome in the war is victory or death.
I could say a lot more. Anyway i just feel like Kurtz isn't evil, even if i could never truly align with his utilitarian morality. Anyone who counts lying as a cardinal sin is an automatic win for me.
No Lie.
Kurtz isn't evil. Kurtz is the War itself.
Since the dawn of man, people fought wars, and no suprise - followers of Kurtz are primitive men. War is part of human nature.
Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now (all versions), especially Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, were my inspiration for portraying Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York in OrangeMite Studios's War of the Roses, among other things.
Awesome video, btw
is that an older play?
@CinemaAutopsy It's actually a compilation of 4 Shakespeare plays, specifically Henry VI Pts 1-3 and Richard 3, but primarily 2 and 3.
@@CinemaAutopsy Spoilers: I die halfway thru, but my sons avenge me, although I'd keep an eye on my namesake, cuz it ain't just his back that's crooked lol
ruclips.net/video/o4sV4sy2rDE/видео.htmlsi=Ll_9pNysIFn2TvPw
ruclips.net/video/3jqo_xCS2So/видео.htmlsi=wdRASxMv-HOsk3Oe
Btw, I just auditioned for Richard III, and I'm gunning for Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, who'd later become Henry VII, and you could draw comparisons between him and Willard, especially cuz I donned my "war face" for it, so wish me luck 😅
@@philiprearich3480 I didnt know they made compilations of these things. Hope you get the part!
@@CinemaAutopsy Thanks! And keep up the good work, sir! 😊
I didn't see it as that people are evil at heart and just have a good facade around them, but rather that people are good at heart but Kurtz intentionally strayed from the human compassionate way to do what must be done in his eyes. But by straying too far from the human kind, he has gone insane.
Kurtz approached an insane world with clarity. it was malaria that took him. As willard said, Kurtz only answered to the jungle. Prehaps the film is about the transformation after breaking points?
When you look too closely into the abyss, the abyss looks into you.-Nietzche
The snail is the US the razor is Vietnam.
could be! I think a nightmare is more personal though :)
@@CinemaAutopsy In the film he states that he could win the war with a fourth of the soldiers in the right mindset. I think then the Snail = US and Vietnam = Razor analogy works. They are going to lose because they are a snail fighting a war they are indecisive about, unaware that they have already lost against the razor.
@@evo2542 well I dont know... that kind of interpretation is a bit too on the nose in my opinion. Not sure how it's that relevant for what Kurtz describes as "my nightmare".
I would say it could be a Vietcong while Razor is the US. Hence the Snail surviving on the edge of a razor .
Also fits with Willard's thoughts about only two ways, home victory or death. As Snail slowly goes it's way.
The razor is the Ho Chi Minh trail and the snail is the Air Force which could never stop the supplies from reaching the VC
Brilliant analysis and reflection. It would be fascinating to hear your rumination on either Malick's THE TREE OF LIFE or Mann's HEAT. Or you may want to even consider the superb film NARC with Ray Liotta and Jason Patric.
I'm not familir with Narc, I'll have to check that out. Thanks!
"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" --Jeremiah
Those are tai chi exercises that Willard, Lance and Colby are doing.
I always felt an excellent English class assignment would be to write a short story about what happens to Willard and Lance on the return journey -- and possibly later in life back in the states after the war. We never get any answers, and can only speculate.
In the book Marlowe becomes the Ancient Mariner. Kurtz crawls into the jungle.
The evil as a temptation and a revelation about what’s really human nature.
Kurtz in the book materialistic and wants the Intended.
"Judgment defeats us."
Richelieu
Yamato
QE class
Six years in Cambodia..... the best people who generally love Buddha and are not racist , I've never been safer
“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.”
- Blaise Pascal, Pensées VII(425)
What man does is a result of him dealing with this vacuum. When he tries to fill it with things of this world, he finds it unfulfilling and moves on to the next thing to try until he comes to one of two conclusions: one of nihilism and one of worship of God himself. The actions of Willard, et.al., are just transactions executed by empty (hollow men) men breaking (at whatever pace) when faced with their choice of nihilism.
Ads interrupt dude every-time he tries to get a point across nasty work on yt part Great vid with an ad blocker
He's just assassinated someone, the opening scene is a regular thing for Willard.
There was no more world to go back to thanks to burkley
War is an unending atrosity, no war ever completely ends, they just take naps to rise again.
Willard was sec,8 to they all lost it lance,chief, kurts ,hard to stay normal
Heart of Darkness played a bigger part in this, surely?
I am not sure that Kurtz broke he adapted
Kurtz broke long before he adapted.
Brake to adapt
Distance your mouth from the microphone next time pls
Good vid ,but the back ground music SUX !!!
That's the intention