After seeing all the horror and bizzare things happening throughout the movie, I was left with a feeling of dissapointment at the end of the movie. I feel like there was all this build-up to when Willard would finally kill Kurtz and they would leave, but once it happened Willard and the surfer dude just walked out of the jungle onto their boat and floated away.... It just seemed insufficient to me after all that had happened to them.... Maybe that's the way its supposed to be? Maybe all the sacrifices they made and all the innocent people killed and all the destruction they witnessed was supposed to seem like a waste because of what it got them in the end? Honestly I thought the entire movie was full of absurdities. They should change the name to Absurdity Now!
The chaos of Vietnam is how I imagine Hell to be, and I definitely saw a correlation to Wizard of Oz:
- Hurtz was the Wizard, who seemed all mighty and powerful when he was just a voice, but once you actually SEE him, its a bit of a letdown and you realize he's weak and only in power because of his words
- The natives jumping around in the jungle were like the flying monkeys.
- Willard should be Dorothy except he doesn't want to go home...so I don't know who he is
I agree with almost all of what you just said. I think that therre is definitely a bit of a let down at the end, but I do think there is a reason. Like you said, all of the efforts they put forth ended pretty anticlimactically. This shows the unnecessariness of war. So many dead bodies and killings and death and depression, but the only thing they have to show for it is a few MORE dead bodies. Willard fulfilled his mission, but the movie does not show any bit of satisfaction from him. Is that because there isn't any or because they cut it off. I like the mystery it brings. We are left to speculate whether he was satisfied with himself or just sad he had to do what he did. I lean more toward that he was sad..
ReplyDeleteI did not even think about the connection to the Wizard in the Wizard of Oz, but that is so true. He seemed so much scarier and more powerful when you read the letters, hear stories about him, and see his little civilization and followers, but then we meet him and realize that he is just a sad man with a depressing life.
Willard is a parallel of Dorothy I think. Dorothy wanted to go home to see her family even though she had an awesome time in Oz. Willard doesn't want to go home and is having an awful time in Vietnam. However, in the beginning, he says that all he ever wanted was a new mission, but after his Kurtz mission he would never think that again..
Wonderful comments! We'll certainly talk about the end of the movie and the end of the novel. What choices, in the movie, does Willard have? Lots to talk about!!!
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