Norris, Margot. “Modernism and Vietnam: Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now.”  MFS Modern Fiction Studies 44:3 (1998): 730 - 766

            Margot Norris fully examines and reviews Coppola’s extraordinary film in this article.  She attempts to voice Francis Ford Coppola’s critique on the Vietnam War not only through the dialogue inspired by Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, but also through the undermining themes and images of the film itself.  Even though most people contend that Apocalypse Now is a loose interpretation of Heart of Darkness, Norris claims that some of the seemingly random and meaningless scenes in Apocalypse Now actually mirror themes and passages from Conrad’s novella.  She dives deep into the psychedelic and dark imagery of Apocalypse Now and analyzes not only the changes made by Coppola and screenwriter John Milius, but also the true meaning of scenes and images that can be directly traced to Heart of Darkness.

            One of the main differences Norris finds between the source novella Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now can be found in the character changes and the implications meant by these changes. The change in setting also stands as one of the most glaring differences.  Norris contends that changing Marlow (a company man) to Willard (a military man), the accountant (a flamboyant ridiculous symbol of colonialism) to Lt. Colonel Kilgore (a ridiculous man of carnage), and the setting of colonial Africa to war torn Vietnam and Cambodia was meant by Coppola to comment mainly on the darkness and evils of man’s violence, exemplified by the Vietnam War.