AN/(THOD)-What makes good visuals/writing good?
What Makes Good Writing and Visuals Good?
I choose to do the scene from Apocalypse Now in which Kurtz’s presents his monologue and correlate it to the scene in The Heart of Darkness when Marlow is approaching Kurtz’s home and has just met the Russian trader. As Marlow is approaching Kurt’s home in the novella he says “The start back I had given was really nothing but a movement of surprise. I had expected to see a knob of wood there, you know. I returned deliberately to the first I had seen-and there it was, black, dried, sunken, with closed eyelids-a head that seemed to sleep at the top of that pole, and, with that shrunken dry lips showing a narrow white line of the teeth, was smiling, too, smiling continuously at some endless and jocose dream of that eternal slumber.” The imagery Conrad uses gives the reader a visual image of the cruelty enveloped by Kurtz. The imagery used by Conrad and visuals in the movie enhance the readers disgust with Kurtz. Despite the horrific sight he views on his arrival, Kurtz is still a symbol of hope for Marlow throughout the book in his quest for more ivory and the quest for himself. Willard’s journey to find Kurtz was fueled solely on the basis of finding the general named Kurtz who had gone crazy. Both Willard and Marlow are on the same journey though differing in their reasons. Marlow’s journey throughout the novel progress’s from just looking for Kurtz, to desperately longing to meet the man he had heard so many great things about. Conrad’s writing allows the reader to develop the same sense of anxiety Marlow has in his search for Kurtz. Throughout the novella we aren’t really given a detailed description as to the malicious man that Kurtz is, similarly in the movie we are only given a slight picture and here the voice of Kurtz before meeting him. The effect of the final encounter with Kurtz is enhanced because of the lack of appearance throughout both the movie and the novella. The true image of Kurtz is still kept subdue in the film, when he is presenting his monologue only a small portion of his face is seen in the dark corner. This image in the film enhances our perception on the darkened ways of Kurtz and enhances the understanding of his speech. In Willard’s meeting with Kurtz there is no remorse and he is there solely on the purpose of completing his mission. Contrastingly in then novella when Marlow finally reaches Kurtz his mentality is quickly changed and begins to understand what has happened to him, showing a sense of remorse not seen in Willard. Conrad’s version on Marlow’s encounter with Kurtz is more complete and allows for Marlow to recognize himself within Kurtz and discover what he didn’t know he had been truly longing for on his journey.
