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"WEEKEND STAR" FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2001 "9 Apocalypse Now Redux an extraordinary experience SCREENING ROOM By John Foote APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX (1979-2001) Directed by Francis Ford Coppola Now on DVD (*¥*xxe) I clearly remember walking out of the old University Theatre on Bloor Street after seeing Apocalypse Now back in 1979, knowing, just knowing, that I had been galvanized in some way. More than anything, at that point in my life, I wanted to be a film critic to celebrate the genius of filmmakers and their works, to relate to others how the film made me feel, and might make them them feel. gl The film would eventually be nominat- ed for eight Academy Awards, including .best film, director and supporting actor (Robert Duvall) and win just two for cine- matography and sound. How Kramer vs Kramer (1979) bested this masterwork as best film and best director of the year is far beyond me. Never in my life since have 1 forgotten that startling opening image, as the trees sway gently back and forth and the elec- tronic sounds-of helicopters are heard on the track along with The Doors' The End when suddenly, without warning, the jun- gle silently explodes into flames and we are left to watch the carnage. The film pulled you in slowly, made you see things you did not want to, made you accept what you did not know about Vietnam. It was haunting, surrealistic and positively brilliant. There had never been a film like it, and has not been one since. Twenty-two years later | still feel the same way about Apocalypse Now, and was thrilled to hear director Francis Ford Coppola had re-cut the film to include 49 minutes of previously unseen footage. Actor Robert Duvall told me about this last year during the time he spent up here shooting the upcoming thriller John Q (2002), and he himself was delighted that Coppola had gone back to make the film he had originally wanted audiences to see. Pressure from the film's distributor, Paramount, forced Coppola to deliver a cut not to exceed three hours. How ironic that the work in progress that took Cannes by storm in 1979 by winning best picture would premiere at Cannes again this year, and yet again, stun the world press with its genius. Released in North America over the summer, the film earned the best reviews of any film released this year, leaving some critics bemoaning that the radical filmmakers of the 70s have come and gone, leaving us with predictable studio crap. Where are the risky, edgy films like Apocalypse Now? Apocalypse Now Redux towers over all other releases this year because of its boldness, the daring that went into mak- ing the film, and the courage the director displayed in making a film that makes demands on its audiences. How Goppola managed to make the film actually better is a mystery to me, but the added footage lends itself well to the development of the film's characters, and actually goes deeper into their souls than before. The plot remains the same, a dis- turbed Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) is sent upriver into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade Colonel who has gone mad and set up camp in the jungle with him- self as a God. Willard is told to terminate "with extreme prejudice". On his journey he will encounter Col. Kilgore (Robert Duvall), who massacres an entire village so his men can go surfing. Kilgore is clear- ly in his element in war, telling the men how much he loves, "the smell of napalm in the morning". An added moment shows a more humane Kilgore saving the life of a baby and its mother, though he is the rea- son their lives even need saving. The longest extended sequence is set in a French Plantation found in the jungle where the French are still living their lives the way they have for decades. They nei- ther understand nor support Willard's mission, nor the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The sequence is important in that it further establishes Willard as capa- ble of human emotion, perhaps some- thing the first film did not. In fact, Martin Sheen's performance in the recut version carries the film, whereas the first cut of the film never quite recov- ered from the moment Duvall stomps off screen saying, "Some day this war's gonna end", with sad regret. His Willard is still haunted, still troubled, but much more human and to a degree playful. It is Willard who makes off with Kilgore's beloved surf board, and Willard who no makes love to a ghostly woman in the French Plantation. The only new scene involving Marlon Brando is a sequence when he, as Kurtz, reads Time Magazine aloud to the cap- tured Willard. Seen in broad daylight, Brando looks enormous and powerful, like a modern Buddha, and the scene delves deep into the psyche of his char- acter. We learn how betrayed he feels by the military and government, which is how the youth of the time felt over America's involvement in Vietnam. The acting in the film remains aston- ishing from Sheen's haunted killer, to Duvall's strutting peacock and to Brando's fallen god. Each is superb. There are fine performances in the background as well from Dennis Hopper as a drugged out photo journalist, famous surfer who thinks Vietnam is bet- ter than Disneyland, and Fredric Forrest as a chef wound far too tight for Vietnam. Though it is usually Duvall's work that is best remembered because each and every performance in the film makes a strong impact. Much criticism was levelled at Brando back in '79 for his work as Kurtz, but name me another American actor who could have pulled off this part without looking like a fool. Listen to the manner in which Brando describes the horror he has seen, and | defy you to not be moved by the performance. This was clearly his last great work. Apocalypse Now Redux is an extraordi- nary experience beautifully realized on DVD, just released by Paramount. The print is a widescreen transfer, perfect in quality and the sound is to die for. Sam Bottoms as a. 188 MaRy STREET, PORT PERRY 905-985-7383 Fax 905.985.3708 | Christmas for Home & Office SALE ENDS DECEMBER 31, 2001 233/84108 Contains oll you need 10 get started. he a i i a SHEAFFER® 'Calligraphy' Maxi Kit 74040-72380 Complete with pens, 3 nibs, Ink coriidges alt in @ convenient carry Ose. STAEDTLER® 'Karat Aquarell' Watercolour Pencil § 124AM12 12 colours in 0 mefol box. Just odd water 1o achieve subfle colour washes. Fade resistant. 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