How does Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now rewrite and reimagine Conrad’s Heart of Darkness?

Although Coppola uses different characters, scenes and themes, both the film and the novella follow the same storyline. In his film, Coppola creates an allegory between the British imperial behaviour in Africa and the American army behaviour in Vietnam. Apocalypse Now, similar to Heart of Darkness, shows the American presence during the war in Vietnam, which is seen by some critics as another version of brutal imperialism. Both offer a realistic and brutal view of imperialism and its hard consequences.
Marlow’s character is represented by the Captain Willard, who also learns about the battle between good and evil. Both the novel and the film, tell the story of a man’s journey into himself. Willard travels upriver to face his fears, his mortality, and the possibility of insane. Also, Willard and Marlow’ characters look for understanding how the bad and evil exist in all of us. Coppola clearly reflects the man’s vulnerability to fall under his darker side and the ways in which his savage and dangerous side can be unleashed. In the film, Coppola also explores the concept of “madness”. This madness is shown in Kurtz and is explored more deeply by Coppola than by Conrad. Coppola really captures Kurtz’s madness because he really understood what happened to men during the War and why they became mad. The illustration of Kurtz’s madness by showing his face in the shadows has a higher impact on the spectator than on the readers. Apocalypse Now’s accuracy in following the essential storyline of Heart of Darkness is more impressive despite the different contexts. The exploration of good versus evil and what prompts evil is perfectly portrayed. At the same time, the film also transmits the book’s message about the brutality and condemnation of imperialism. Therefore, Both works expose the evils of imperialism and of men bringing them into life.