The Creation of God in Apocalypse Now in Relation to Frazers The Golde

The Creation of God in Apocalypse Now in likeness to Frazers The Golden Bough Very rargonly do filmmakers intend to create cinematic masterpieces which integrate and draw upon lush literary qualities and leave the viewer with a deeper sense of life and death than he or she had before viewing the film. Even if some filmmakers do attempt to create a masterpiece, symbolic and complex, many guide short. However, when Francis Coppola created Apocalypse Now, he succeeded in creating a masterpiece, drawing upon the complicated story within Conrads Heart of Darkness and the savage observations within Frazers The Golden Bough. The character of Colonel Kurtz in both Conrads and Coppolas works, is one of a complicated, volatile renaissance man he is at the same time a ruthless, body collecting warrior and a nice philosopher. Kurtzs divinity is like fire, which under proper restraints, confers endless blessings, but if rashly touched, burns and destroys what it touches (Frazer 13). Kurtz, as a savage icon, is capable of greatness and is brutally vixenish at the same time. Where Coppola strays from Conrad, he does so to show Kurtzs deliberate choice to become a god-like figure and be destroyed in the tradition of the savages. finished the savage beliefs of tabooed show and hair, the slaying of the divine king, and sympathetic magic, Coppola creates a more savagely realistic character in Kurtz. Perhaps one of Col. Kurtzs most prominent physical features in Apocalypse Now is his shaven head. Frazer explains that, to the savages, the head and hair of their divine king is tabooed, and to touch the top of the head, or anything which had been on his head was sacrilege (Frazer 812). To the savages, their king ra... ...in Cambodia after he slays Kurtz because either Chef had ordered the air strike, or because Willard, eventhough he is mesmerized by the culture, is a unwavering part of the horse opera world. Just because Willard is portrayed by Coppola as a unconvention al man and can slay Kurtz in accordance with savage customs, doesnt make him a savage. Eventhough Frazer is an Englishman, Coppola believes his observations of savages are precise, and so he chooses to create his born again savage god-king, Kurtz, accordingly. Works Cited Frazer, James. The Golden Bough. 1922. New York The Macmillan Company, 1951. Vickery, James B., The Literary Aspect of The Golden Bough. Princeton, New tee shirt Princeton University Press, 1973. Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Remarks on Frazers Golden Bough. Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey Human Press, Inc., 1979.