Deep in the heart of Africa lives one of the most profitable and important ivory traders, Mr. Kurtz. Everyone in the Central Station sees him as an emissary and a prodigy, but Marlow sees him as a heartless and cruel person, the truth behind Kurtz. To me, Kurtz is the sole symbol of the darkness of Africa. In the movie, he calls to his pet monkey to come over to him and then snaps his neck and kills it! But also in the movie, it says that Kurtz hasn't been sending any ivory in to the central station, letting people in the central station to wonder, "has Kurtz gone crazy?' But the book states that Kurtz is sending in more ivory than everyone else combined. Marlow is determined to meet Kurtz and witness what is so amazing about him that everyone else sees. He travels down the Congo River on a steamboat with his helmsman, Mfumu. All Marlow could think about was the flash backs of the darkness of Africa that e had witnessed throughout the movie. I don't want to spoil the ending, so I won't. The Russian (harlequin) that Marlow meets at the inner station seems to have lost him mind and his tone of voice is really creepy to me. He was always laughing like a maniac! But Marlow does meet Kurtz's African mistress and catches glimpses of Kurtz's "Intended" that he had painted, and each one had significance. The movie was okay, but it would have been hard to understand had I not read the book first, and even then the book and the movie were different in many ways. If you choose to watch this movie, I suggest you read the book first so that you can grasp the movie and its characters.
Review of Heart of Darkness
