Marlon Brando (playing Kurtz) arrived on set overweight, unprepared, and having not read the source material, forcing Coppola to rewrite and improvise much of the ending. Core Themes to Explore
Upon arriving in Africa, Marlow witnesses the "absurdity of evil"—native laborers in chains and a man trying to carry water in a bucket with a hole in it. Here, he first hears the name Kurtz , a legendary agent rumored to be a "prodigy" of humanity, yet deeply entrenched in the ivory trade. 7. Hearts of Darkness (1)
The story begins on the Thames River, where Marlow reminds his listeners that even England was once one of the "dark places of the earth". This establishes the theme that savagery is not a geographic trait but a potential within all human hearts. Marlon Brando (playing Kurtz) arrived on set overweight,
In the opening section of Conrad's novella, the protagonist Charles Marlow recounts his journey into the Belgian Congo, setting a tone of moral ambiguity and impending doom. The story begins on the Thames River, where