Introduction to film studies - Essay Example

It is the innermost thoughts of Willard, but before he receives his orders to find and terminate with “extreme prejudice,” one of his own, Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando). The narration is to set the stage for a war that is being waged that, like Willard, is disconnected from that which is should be anchored to. Willard’s narrative successfully orchestrates every element of the mise en scene, cinematography, editing and sound. When Willard arrives in country, Vietnam, he sets about the task of beginning that which the narrative sets up: to atone for his sins.

He is in the skin of an assassin, and his mission is to find and terminate – kill – one of the Army’s own. To do so, he must first find Kurtz, who is hiding in plain sight, not so different than Willard. Willard has to get transportation into the jungle where Kurtz has established for himself a base of operations – which is to do no operations, other than to exist as a rebellious force against the military. Of course, the military wants Kurtz terminated before he becomes permanently anchored in jungle and becomes some urban myth amongst the Viet Cong.

The fear is that the Viet Cong might themselves become so enamored of Kurtz that they might make him some sort of enigmatic leader. Kurtz has already established a cult following amongst his men, and perhaps even some deserters from other units. Once Willard sets about the work of getting down the Mei Kong River, he begins to encounter the various layers of military structural deterioration. Like layers of an onion, the further Willard moves into the jungle, he is peeling away a layer of the onion to reveal something new and strange.

As he goes about doing this, he is pulling away the layers of his own humanity, discovering who he is. There is conflict, because Willard is on a mission to kill one of America’s own, and this is not understood by his military counterparts, whose job it is to help get Willard to