Elements of darkness in Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness In both Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness some elements of darkness attempt to show how deeply one must look within oneself I was about to find out the truth. Conrad portrays the idea of ​​the darkness of the human heart through things like the interior of the jungle and its immensity, the Inner Station, and Kurtz's twisted actions. Coppola's dark heart is the madness of the Vietnam War and how he searches for purpose in it all; that's pretty crazy in itself. It is no coincidence that a documentary was made about Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 film, "Apocalypse Now", entitled "Hearts of Darkness - A Filmmaker's Apocalypse", as the production of the film was something of a horrible journey for people involved. . Throughout production, the cast and crew were plagued by some serious problems. A typhoon that nearly destroyed the set, budget problems, Coppola's suicide threats and Martin Sheen having a heart attack were just some of the things that had to be dealt with during filming. The descent into madness that accompanied the making of "Apocalypse Now" mirrored the film's own themes and also reflected the themes of "Heart of Darkness," the Conrad short story on which the film is based. The theme of a journey into human darkness is something shared by both the film and the book, but each tells the story in a different and unique way. The basic plots of "Apocalypse Now" and "Heart of Darkness" are very similar. Both films have a main character who goes on a journey along a long and winding river to find a man named Kurtz. In the film the protagonist is a special forces captain named Willard, in the book he is called Marlow. The film seems to have a more dir...... middle of paper...... Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse [Film]. Showtime/Paramount.Chatman, Seymour. "Two and a half versions of Heart of Darkness." Corrado on cinema. Ed. Gene M. Moore. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Editor Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton, 1988. Coppola, Francis Ford (director, co-author). 1979. Apocalypse Now [Film]. American Zoetrope/United Artists.Ruthven, K. K. 'Elements of Darkness: Conrad and Lawrence,' Critical Quarterly, x, n. 1 and 2 (spring and summer 1968), pp. 41-6. Ed. CB Cox.Virtanen, Panu S. (1997). Apocalypse Now tribute page. Retrieved July 2, 1997, from the World Wide Web: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/9067/apocal.html.Wilmington, Mike. “Worth the Wait: Apocalypse Now.” Heart of Darkness, Norton Critical Edition. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1988.