American Photojournalist
Encyclopedia
The American Photojournalist is a fictional character
in Apocalypse Now
, portrayed by Dennis Hopper
, himself a skilled photographer. His character was inspired by a number of real-life American photojournalists who worked in Vietnam
and Laos
during the 1970s, especially including Sean Flynn
. The photojournalist is the film's equivalent of the "harlequin" or Russian sailor in Joseph Conrad
's Heart of Darkness
.
, Chef, and Lance arrive. Like the rest at the compound, the Photojournalist is deeply affected by Kurtz' teachings and praises him, ranting about how his words change everything and how his legacy will stand once he is gone.
Despite his devotion, Kurtz has little respect for the Photojournalist. In the final scene in which the Photojournalist appears, he is talking with Willard while Kurtz reads T. S. Eliot
's "The Hollow Men
". Kurtz throws the book at him, and proceeds to call him a "mutt". To this, the Photojournalist leaves, and is never seen again.
The Photojournalist's name is never revealed, and it seems clear from his erratic behaviour, mood swings and forceful literal nature that he has gone insane.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...
, portrayed by Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
, himself a skilled photographer. His character was inspired by a number of real-life American photojournalists who worked in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
during the 1970s, especially including Sean Flynn
Sean Flynn
Sean Leslie Flynn was an American actor and freelance photojournalist best known for his coverage of the Vietnam War. He started a news service in Saigon with John Steinbeck IV, son of the American author.Flynn was the only child of the marriage of Errol Flynn and Lili Damita...
. The photojournalist is the film's equivalent of the "harlequin" or Russian sailor in Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
's Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness is a novella written by Joseph Conrad. Before its 1903 publication, it appeared as a three-part series in Blackwood's Magazine. It was classified by the Modern Library website editors as one of the "100 best novels" and part of the Western canon.The story centres on Charles...
.
Biography
The Photojournalist is first seen in Colonel Kurtz's compound when WillardBenjamin L. Willard
Captain Benjamin L. Willard is a fictional character and the main protagonist in Francis Ford Coppola's film Apocalypse Now, and is portrayed by American actor Martin Sheen. His character is loosely based on the character Charles Marlow from Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness. He is a...
, Chef, and Lance arrive. Like the rest at the compound, the Photojournalist is deeply affected by Kurtz' teachings and praises him, ranting about how his words change everything and how his legacy will stand once he is gone.
Despite his devotion, Kurtz has little respect for the Photojournalist. In the final scene in which the Photojournalist appears, he is talking with Willard while Kurtz reads T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
's "The Hollow Men
The Hollow Men
The Hollow Men is a major poem by T. S. Eliot. Its themes are, like many of Eliot's poems, overlapping and fragmentary, but it is recognised to be concerned most with post-World War I Europe under the Treaty of Versailles , the difficulty of hope and religious conversion, and, as some critics...
". Kurtz throws the book at him, and proceeds to call him a "mutt". To this, the Photojournalist leaves, and is never seen again.
The Photojournalist's name is never revealed, and it seems clear from his erratic behaviour, mood swings and forceful literal nature that he has gone insane.