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"WEEKEND STAR" FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2001-9 Revisiting Coppola's descent into darkness LEE ROOM ® ©0606 06 0 - By John Foote APOCALYPSE NOW (Pete Vee) Directed by Francis Ford Coppola Soon to be re-released, with extra footage One of my clearest memories of the sev- enties is walking out of the old University Theatre on Bloor St. after Apocalypse Now for the first time. | was a struggling theatre and film stu- dent, leaning towards film criticism, and Coppola's film had a profound impact on my life. After seeing the work, | knew I had seen something that was nothing short of miraculous; a bold masterpiece, unlike any film previously made. At. the Cannes Film Festival in 1979, Coppola took his unfinished picture to screen it for the world press. The sound and music was not yet complete, and there were "a couple of sequences that would later be cut. The reaction to the film was front page news, and Apocalypse Now, as a work in progress, would share the Best Film prize with the German film The Tin Drum (1979). When released domestically, reviews for the film were mixed, with some critics hail- ing the movie for the work of art it was, while others felt Coppola's work was self indul- seeing gent, that he had created a film only he would understand. One thing they all agreed upon was that the film was new, that it broke ground for cinema as an art form, that is was original and breathtaking to watch. Apocalypse Now would earn eight Academy Award nominations including nods for best picture and director, but would come away with two awards, best cin- ematography and sound, losing the major awards to Robert Benton's Kramer vs Kramer (1979). In hindsight, that seems ridiculous, considering the impact Apocalypse Now would have on future gen- erations of film goers. That the film was even finished and released is a movie miracle, wonderfully documented in the documentary Hearts of Darkness, which explores the making. of the film and the many disasters Coppola would encounter. A typhoon would wipe out his sets, the Phillipine government had promised him helicopters, yet would pull them away in the middle of a shot to go fight the rebels in the hills. Star Martin Sheen would suffer a massive heart attack, and Marlon Brando would show up grossly overweight and hav- - ing not read the script. In addition, Coppola would have to work with drug-addled Dennis Hopper, a heavy drinking Martin Sheen, and extras who did not understand the language. For two and a half years he worked on the project, causing pundits in the film business to dub the film 'Apocalypse When? Coppola had hoped the film would be the definitive exploration of the war in Vietnam, and began filming in 1976. Yet as he shot the film, the screenplay evolved as the director merged the ideas laid out by John Milius with those of Joseph Conrad in his novella Heart of Darkness. The film became philosophical, hardly the action- adventure yam the director had begun film- ing. The film traces the happenings when an American soldier, Willard (Martin Sheen) is sent into the jungle on a mission to termi- nate the command of renegade Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) who has gone insane and is fighting the war his way. | Placed on a Navy boat and escorted into the jungle, Willard begins to see the war first hand and understands why Kurtz has lost his way. Among the men he encounters is Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall), a gleeful commander who happily bombs a beach so his men can go surfing, then deeply inhales the smell of napalm. When Willard finally encounters Kurtz, he is unsure if he can complete his mission, because he has come to understand so much about the man and the war, and most of all, himself. The performances in Apocalypse Now are astounding, particularly Robert Duvall as the unflinching Kilgore, who tells his men, "l love the smell of napalm in the morning. It smells like... victory." Though in the film for about 20 minutes, Duvalls towers above the other perfor- mances, and when he struts off-screen the film, as brilliant as it is, never quite recovers from losing him. Equally fine is Martin Sheen, who replaced Harvey Keitel after 10 days shoot- ing, and later suffered a massive heart attack during filming. He captures the ago- nies of this army assassin haunted by mem- ories of the men he has killed. Marlon Brando drew critical fire in '79 for his performance as Kurtz, but | defy anyone to find another actor who could pull this performance off. Brando is brilliant, and when one considers most of his scenes were improvised, the impact of the work grows. The direction of the film is exquisite as the film moves along in what seems to be one long fluid shot. Surrealistically blending' footage together, Coppola gives the film a dreamy nightmarish quality that hypnotizes the viewer from beginning to end. Now in 2001, 22 years after the release of the film, Coppola has gone back to the footage and restored 50 minutes that was originally shot in the late 70s. He took that restored film to Cannes this year, where the film was again in contention for best picture prize. Among the scenes restored to the picture are the famous French plantation sequence, which gives a history of Vietnam, Kilgore saving a baby, which gives us a total- ly different view of his character, long sequences with Sheen on the boat coming - to understand more about Kurtz, and extra footage of the Playboy bunnies being" bribed by Sheen and his men to get out of danger. The extra footage causes the film run in excess of three hours, but also offers movie goers the chance to see what Coppola orig- inally intended for audiences. I have mixed feelings about footage being restored; it was not included in the beginning for a reason, why does it need to be shown now? However, when the film is of the stature of Apocalypse Now, like Willy Loman, "attention must be paid". ¥ Sed Aunual : "Trophy Presented to The People's Choice Award." $25. Entrance Fee (Includes show t-shirt, dash plaque, coupons, and key chain.) Advertising; CFRB Radio, Old Autos, local print publications, and the internet. OUTDOOR BBQ « 50'S MUSIC Country Market "Uo mone than a maker" WWW. stouffvillemarket.com 12555 10th line North, Stouffville, Ont. 905-640-3813 "Ontario's Original Flea Market" Hundreds of Vendors to see .