Marlon Brando as Mr. Kurtz

The movie Apocalypse Now Redux (2001), directed by Francis Ford Coppola, captures and illustrates the characters from the novella Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, perfectly. Mr. Kurtz, one of the main characters in the novella, is played by Marlon Brando. His physical appearance as well as the character that he instilled in Mr. Kurtz, portrayed Mr. Kurtz just as anyone who has read the novella would imagine him to be. Brando’s combination of his weight, height, and voice along with his mysterious and frightening character captivates the audience and brings Mr. Kurtz to life.

Marlon Brando’s physical appearance was the main component in making Mr. Kurtz look terrifying. His height, which was probably around six foot, gave him the appearance of being superior to all of those around him. Metaphorically being because he stood above everyone else since the natives treated him like a god, but more literally because all of the natives were shorter than him. Brando’s weight also contributed to giving him that superior look. With everyone else in Vietnam, where the movie takes place, being skinny, it demonstrates that the natives were willing to give him their food instead of eating it themselves. Brando’s tone of voice also helped to enhance the terrifying view of Mr. Kurtz. It was a very deep and monotoned throughout the whole movie. Which kind of makes the audience wonder what is going on inside of his head and if he cares for anything out in the jungle.

Brando instills the mysterious, intimidating, and frightening character in Mr. Kurtz just like he is portrayed throughout the novella. Mr. Kurtz’s bluntness came off as intimidating in the movie, because he was not afraid to tell anyone the truth, which made people face the reality of things. In the movie Mr. Kurtz and Willard have a conversation where Willard tells him that he is a solider and an assassin. Mr. Kurtz, however, replies by telling him “your neither, your an errand boy sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill”. This specific quote in the movie was important because it demonstrated Mr. Kurtz’s bluntness in situations. He did not care whether or not his words would hurt Willard, he just told him how it was. Mr. Kurtz was also very frightening to both the natives and americans. Mainly because of the way he killed anyone, no matter if you were his friend or not. In fact, on the pathway towards where he lived in the movie there were bodies and heads decaying everywhere, to scare people by showing them what happens if you were to go against him. Another way Brando’s Kurtz captivates the audience is by his mysterious character. No one knows why Mr. Kurtz does the things that he does and this keeps the audience intrigued in finding out who he is. Whenever Mr. Kurtz was showed on camera he was always covered by a shadow, this also was very mysterious. It made it seem as if he was literally being taken over by the darkness.

Marlon Brando, Mr. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now (2001), portrayed Mr. Kurtz in a way that someone else could not have. His physical appearance helped to enhance Mr. Kurtz’s frightening character. His height and weight intensified his intimidating view and his monotone voice strengthened his mysterious look. Brando did an excellent job in bringing Mr. Kurtz to life from the novella.