Richard Adams analyzes the title and opening paragraphs of Heart of Darkness, showing that neither gives the reader clues regarding the subject matter and focus of the story.
Though inspired by Joseph Conrad’s classic tale Heart of Darkness, Francis Coppola’s Apocalypse Now is the kind of film we don’t ordinarily think of as an adaptation. And not simply because of its change of tide. It doesn’t acknowledge its literary source in its credits—they simply read: “Screenplay by John Milius and Francis Coppola; Narration by Michael Herr.”
In The Power of Adaptation in “Apocalypse Now” Marsha Kinder critically compares and contrasts the film and the novel. In this article, Kinder states that “Coppola rarely hesitates to change Conrad’s story-setting, events, characters-whenever the revision is required by the Vietnam context.”
This introduction sets ‘Heart of Darkness’ in the context of Conrad’s life, sketches the process of its composition, and outlines its critical history.
Coppola’s “heart of darkness,” like Conrad’s, is a triumph of style over story. Or rather, the description—words for Conrad, mise-en-scène for Coppola—is the story’s raison d’être.
Introduzione di Robert Hampson all’edizione Mondadori del romanzo di Joseph Conrad “Cuore di tenebra” (Heart of Darkness)
Full Text of Joseph Conrad’s novel “Heart of Darkness” (1899)
Apocalypse Now come segno della divisione fra il moderno e il postmoderno. Saggio di Francesco Binni
Joseph Conrad, Cuore di tenebra, introduzione di Francesco Binni, traduzione di Luisa Saraval, Milano, Garzanti, 2002
Di Cuore di Tenebra la Linea d’ombra rappresenta idealmente l’antecedente immediato, anche se è stata scritta diciott’anni circa dopo l’altro racconto.
Traduzione italiana del romanzo di Joseph Conrad pubblicato nel 1902