Santina's Film Blog

  Apocalypse Now: Ending scene The ending scene of Apocalypse Now leaves many wondering the meaning behind it. In this ending, Willard slips into Kurtz’s compound and kills him while the Montagnards sacrifice a water buffalo by cutting it into pieces as part of their ritual. Both of these shots are a representation of something inevitable or as something that had to be done, like Willards mission. He then stands before the tribe who seem to accept Willard as their new leader, but he just sails away, silently, and that is when he realises that the Vietnam War is going to continue and that he has done nothing to stop it by killing Kurtz.  Willard is no hero, he is just a good soldier that is waiting to die and does not feel accomplished until his mission is completed. He kills Kurtz because he was ordered to, but his actions don’t put an end to the Vietnam War so, why should he be considered a hero? The murder of Kurtz has little to no repercussion on the war and through his jou...

  Wasp: How does Arnold use the form of social realism to develop the character Zoe? In the Wasp short film Arnold uses different forms of social realism to develop the main character Zoe, in between them the use of the camera, editing, sound, acting and the dialogue between the characters. From the very beginning the audience sees the poverty and bad conditions the family is living on and this intensifies as the film goes on. When they are leaving their house and going down the stairs in the first scene, the use of closeups are used to make the audience focus on the poverty this family is living on as it shows that the mother has no shoes and that the baby does not have a diaper. It is a great way of getting to know the main character and her environment without dialogue. There are also a few separated shots of the other family members that lets the audience believe that this is a dysfunctional and not a united family. There is also a sense of turbulence due to the use of handheld...

  Apocalypse Now. Kilgore and Helicopter attack scene Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore is not your typical hero. What he says and does contradicts with the morals of a normal sane person and he doesn’t doubt for a moment that what he is doing is wrong. Everyone follows him because he is a leader and doesn’t hesitate to act, but even though he fits the Colonel role perfectly that doesn't mean that he is any kind of hero compared to what America would believe. The scene of the helicopters attacking the village, also known as “The ride of the Valkyries”, starts with the cavalry formation of the helicopters with the music composition by Richard Wagner. The scene itself is so powerful and the music just takes it to another level. Even this early through the movie Kilgore already shows that he is powerful with his relaxed posture and body language, which at the same time demonstrates that he is confident he will win the war. After showing the helicopter formation and the soldiers preparin...