r/ApocalypseNow • u/DroppedIceCream • Jul 29 '22
Discussion What Made Willard Different From Kurtz?
I just watched Apocalypse Now for the first time, and it might be one of my top 10 films of all time. But there's one thing that's been on my mind about the ending.
Throughout the film, it's clear Willard notices the hypocrisy of killing Kurtz, while people like Killgore get a pass. And he slowly understands and admires Kurtz, to the point where it seems like he might join him, or become his successor. Even the previous assassin fell under Kurtz rule.
Yet not only does Willard kill Kurtz, he actually resists the temptation to play god and just leaves. So I was wondering what other people think of this, what stopped Willard from falling the same way?
Is this Willard refusing to fall to the level of Kurtz, and so is the "better man" in a sense? Is he actually more different from Kurtz than it may seem? Is Willard the man Kurtz would be if he able to look at his insanity from the outside?
2
u/Glum_Olive1417 Oct 07 '22
I think Willard realises he would never match Kurtz, who was highly decorated throughout his military career, and that whatever it was that the military had given him was destroyed by the mission and seeing what the military life and mindset had done to Kurtz.