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Vittorio Storaro and Plato's Cave
I have recently discovered Vittorio Storaro with CNN's Design 360.
Storaro was the cinematographer, or director of photography, of Apocalypse Now and that is still his most famous work. One search always leads to another and I am now curious about the documentary Light keeps me Company by Swedish director Carl-Gustav Nikvist, another Wish List item to add to Amazon.
The reason for this entry is a major personal discovery. I was always very interested in Apocalypse Now because I had studied the book it is based upon, The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. I had a project of writing a huge and long paper on Apocalypse Now that never happened, but the notes and ideas for that non-existent paper have been piling up for years. Storaro was being interviewed by CNN and he was telling how he designed the last and most decisive part of the film: all the lights and symbols were drawn from Plato's cave allegory. Kurtz and Willard gradually emerging out of the shadows as they are confronted with reality, the light on Kurtz's face when he dies. How could I have missed it for so many years?