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Capt. Willard (Martin Sheen) romances a French
widow (Aurore Clement) in Apocalypse Now Redux’s
restored French Plantation sequence.
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There are now two different movies to enjoy from Francis Ford Coppola's legendary film project about the Vietnam War, Apocalypse Now. The first film, released 22 years ago to overwhelming gossip about production delays and out-of-control spending, remains a powerful action drama about one soldier's dangerous mission.
A reedited version of Coppola's original 1979 film, Apocalypse Now Redux, places additional emphasis on its hallucinatory and spiritual intentions. In the context of a more deliberately told story, the lingering tracking shots of the Vietnamese jungle and the "Nung" river, the yellowish smoke from napalm explosions and the constant buzz of helicopters appear more tragic. The result is a humanistic tale that serves as a welcome companion to Coppola's frequently misunderstood war movie.
An additional 49 minutes of footage strip away much of the dramatic confusion from the original film. In Coppola's newly edited version, Capt. Benjamin Willard's (Martin Sheen) journey on a Navy PBR boat in search of American renegade, Col. Walter Kurtz (Marlon Brando), achieves a level of storytelling transcendence. Apocalypse Now Redux is no longer a war movie constructed around a series of elaborate action sequences. Instead, Coppola and editor Walter Murch have painstakingly remade Apocalypse Now in the spirit of their original artistic vision. In the process, they have strengthened the dramatic bond between Apocalypse Now and its inspirational source, Joseph Conrad's 1902 novella, Heart of Darkness.
The changes and additional footage make a noticeable impact on Sheen's battle-worn Capt. Willard. His sunburned face acquires a tragic glow. Sheen's raspy voice seems wiser. The blood, sweat and tears expressed by Willard in his Saigon hotel room are the same. Still, Apocalypse Now Redux exchanges Willard's threads of heroism for something more emotionally complex. In the reedited Apocalypse, Willard emerges as a fully-realized embodiment of the chaotic and confusing war that surrounds him. Apocalypse Now's subtle themes about the human conflict between good and evil becomes more apparent in Apocalypse Now Redux. The internal battle between Willard's rational instincts and his irrational reflexes acquires greater importance. Willard knows Kurtz is a brilliant soldier. He also comes to understand that Kurtz has hidden away in Cambodia with his own private army. But despite all the bloody warning signs, Willard still struggles with the idea that he must kill this once-exemplary soldier who has reportedly gone mad.
"How many people have I already killed?" Willard mumbles to himself. "Six? But this time it was an American. An officer. Charging a guy for murder in this place was like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500."
As Willard listens to tapes of Kurtz's rambling voice, Apocalypse Now Redux made me feel something I've never experienced before: sympathy for Willard.
Popular scenes like an audience of soldiers stampeding a Playboy Bunnies concert appearance and the "Ride of the Valkyries" sequence, where a squad of helicopter gun ships attack a Vietnamese village, are intact in Apocalypse Now Redux. In his cavalry hat and aviator glasses, Robert Duvall still sparkles as the colorful and demented commander of the air cavalry, Col. Bill Kilgore. A surfing fanatic, Kilgore is flabbergasted to discover a star surfer, Lance Johnson (Sam Bottoms), is a member of Willard's team. In a beachhead beset with enemy fire, Kilgore insists the river is safe enough for Lance to surf.
"If I say it is safe to surf this beach, it is safe to surf this beach." Kilgore barks at his men.
The airborne attack of the helicopters on a Vietnamese village still remains an odd, Leni Riefenstahl moment despite the additional footage with Kilgore. It's as if Coppola is paying homage to the American military's ability to create awesome carnage. It's at the end of the "Ride of the Valkyries" scene, Apocalypse Now's trademark sequence, that Redux's additional footage makes a noticeable impact. Kilgore's charismatic machismo turns sinister after Willard steals his beloved surfboard. Kilgore's insanity is captured powerfully when the same helicopter loudspeakers that blasted "Ride of the Valkyries" now broadcasts his demands for his stolen surfboard.
"Just give me back the board, Lance," Kilgore pleads. "It was a good board, and I liked it."
These reedited scenes are more than just a bonus for long-time fans of Apocalypse Now. The additional footage and dialogue from John Milius' screenplay brings a metaphysical and spiritual dimension to the violence. In a nearly vacant military camp, Willard and his crew reunite with the Bunnies and their manager after their helicopter runs out of fuel. Willard quickly makes a deal: two barrels of fuel for a couple of hours with the Bunnies inside some abandoned helicopter fuselages. The resulting footage is disturbing and unforgettable.
Willard and the laid-back PBR boat crew enjoy additional screen time. But the most famous of Redux's restored footage is the sequence where Willard and the PBR boat crew encounter the family of a French plantation-owner (Christian Marquand) at his isolated jungle home. As much as Brando's restored monologues, where Kurtz reads aloud from old issues of Time magazine, these ghostly scenes between Willard and the pretty French widow (Aurore Clément) dramatically alter the fast-moving tempo of Coppola's original film.
During Willard's plantation visit, where he enjoys an elegant meal, drinks cognac, smoked opium and beds the pretty widow, Apocalypse Now Redux brings its story to an intentional halt. It's during his unexpected visit with French colonials that Willard finally understands the futility of the Vietnam War. After he returns to his mission to kill Kurtz, Willard is a changed man. The French plantation footage also changes what was a Vietnam War tale into something far more humanistic. The result is that Apocalypse Now has become the spiritual epic Coppola always intended it to be.
Of course, someone who has never seen Apocalypse Now before won't recognize the additional footage. They also won't realize what long-time fans have waited 22 years to see. Like everyone, they'll just be dazzled by a brilliant film.
CityBeat grade: A.
