Asheville Roundtable 9/5
The RoundTable is meeting this Friday,a nd we are going to discuss two mythic films: Apocalypse Now & 2001: A Space Odyssey.
We'll be at EarthFair in Asheville Friday night from 7-9. Hope to see some of you there.
If Apocalypse Now represents a series of initiations, what does Willard learn on his journey up-river? What final revelation does he have in the end?
What does the title “Apocalypse Now” mean?
Both Apocalypse Now and 2001 use a classical myth structure in which a “sea” voyage creates a series of loosely connected episodes. How does this different kind of storytelling create different effects from the modern novel-like structure?
One way of reading Apocalypse Now is: Kurtz is associated w/ a ritually-killed priest-king, a lunar hero, the bull, and a killed-and-resurrected agrarian god. Kilgore is associated w/ the patriarchal, dragon-slaying, warrior gods associated w/ nomadic herding tribes like the Semites and Aryans. Where does Willard fit into this dichotomy?
Another suggested reading of Apocalypse Now is to see Kurtz and Kilgore as the twin heroes of mind and matter - the shaman-magician-priest and the warrior-king. What evidence is there for this interpretation… and once again, where does Willard fit - is he the new shaman-priest or the emissary of the warrior-king.
If 2001 depicts the two great leaps in human evolution, what exactly is the nature of those transitions? Are they biological or spiritual or cognitive or moral… or all of the above? How would you characterize the transitions - from animal to man to… what? (The music “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” suggests Nietszche and the text in which Nietzsche first talked of the Overman (or “Superman”).)
What does the alien Monolith of 2001 symbolize?
Ebert says “it is precisely the Age of Reason Kubrik is bidding farewell to in this film.” What does Ebert mean by this “Age of Reason?”
What does HAL 9000 symbolize? What is his problem/limitation? Why does he go nuts?
We'll be at EarthFair in Asheville Friday night from 7-9. Hope to see some of you there.
If Apocalypse Now represents a series of initiations, what does Willard learn on his journey up-river? What final revelation does he have in the end?
What does the title “Apocalypse Now” mean?
Both Apocalypse Now and 2001 use a classical myth structure in which a “sea” voyage creates a series of loosely connected episodes. How does this different kind of storytelling create different effects from the modern novel-like structure?
One way of reading Apocalypse Now is: Kurtz is associated w/ a ritually-killed priest-king, a lunar hero, the bull, and a killed-and-resurrected agrarian god. Kilgore is associated w/ the patriarchal, dragon-slaying, warrior gods associated w/ nomadic herding tribes like the Semites and Aryans. Where does Willard fit into this dichotomy?
Another suggested reading of Apocalypse Now is to see Kurtz and Kilgore as the twin heroes of mind and matter - the shaman-magician-priest and the warrior-king. What evidence is there for this interpretation… and once again, where does Willard fit - is he the new shaman-priest or the emissary of the warrior-king.
If 2001 depicts the two great leaps in human evolution, what exactly is the nature of those transitions? Are they biological or spiritual or cognitive or moral… or all of the above? How would you characterize the transitions - from animal to man to… what? (The music “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” suggests Nietszche and the text in which Nietzsche first talked of the Overman (or “Superman”).)
What does the alien Monolith of 2001 symbolize?
Ebert says “it is precisely the Age of Reason Kubrik is bidding farewell to in this film.” What does Ebert mean by this “Age of Reason?”
What does HAL 9000 symbolize? What is his problem/limitation? Why does he go nuts?