Apocalypse Now Study Questions

Assess the opening of Coppola's film. How does it set up the movie?
What particular techniques are used?

How does Willard's voice-over narration function in this film? How might this compare with Marlow's narration?

Willard says that to tell Kurtz's story is to tell his own. Comment.

How does the playing of the tape recording of Kurtz echo Conrad?

General Corman notes that there is conflict in every human heart. Are his comments reminiscient of any ideas presented in Heart of Darkness?

What are some of the key features of the scene involving the attack on the Vietnamese village?
Willard wonders about the difference between Colonel Kilgore and Kurtz. Is there any?

What do you notice about the scene in which Chef encounters the tiger?
How is this filmed? What conclusion does Willard draw at the end of it?

As they head up river, Willard ponders the career of Kurtz, and his own. What does he have to say about his own actions? How does he characterize them in terms of morality and insanity?

What is the significance of the scene in which Willard kills the Vietnamese girl?
What does he say after this scene about lies and his understanding of Kurtz?

Discuss the scene in which their boat is attacked from the shore, shortly before they meet Kurtz.

Comment on the character of the photojournalist and his views of Kurtz.

Discuss the first conversation between Kurtz and Willard.

The photojournalist says that Kurtz is clear in his mind but insane in his soul. Discuss.

What is Kurtz reading before his final conversation with Willard?

What does Kurtz say about the horror? What experience led to his realization and transformation?

Describe the final scene during which Kurtz is killed.
What does Willard say about his impending assassination?
How is this scene filmed and dramatized?

What is written across one of the pages of Kurtz's manuscript?

Compare Conrad's Marlow and Kurtz with their counterparts in Coppola (Willard and Kurtz).
What other character parallels are there? For example, do Conrad's Station Manager, the Russian explorer, and the Intended have their counterparts in the film?

What other parallels are established between the novel and the film? Are they pulled off effectively?

How does the progression of the plot of the film compare with that of the novel?

Discuss the mise en scène of Apocalypse Now as a whole. What do you find to be Coppola's most interesting choices? What do you think is particularly effective? Ineffective?

How does Coppola's southeast Asia parallel Conrad's Africa? Why do you think Coppola set the film here? Does it work?

How "realist" or how "formalist" do you find Coppola's filming of the war scenes?
What particular techniques or special effects are used?
In general, how is cinematography used to provide the audience with a sense of this world?

Aside from Coppola's particular vision, what does the genre of film do for this story that perhaps did not work as well in narrative? Vice versa?

If you were to make a film version of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, what would you do differently?