Apocalypse Now Redux
Apocalypse Now Redux is a 2001 extended version of the epic war film Apocalypse Now, which was originally released in 1979. Unlike other new cuts of the film, Redux is usually considered by fans and critics, as well as director Francis Ford Coppola a new movie altogether.
The movie adds 49 minutes of all-new material, and represents a significant re-edit of the original Apocalypse Now. The movie came into production when Coppola concluded that his original cut was tame by today's standards. Coppola, along with editor/long-time collaborator Walter Murch, then added several scenes that enhanced the surrealism in the original story.
New scenes/alterations
The movie contains several newly added sequences and alterations to the original film:
- The longest addition to the film is a sequence that takes place after Clean's death. The crew find themselves in a French plantation in Cambodia. Willard tells the head of the plantation (Christian Marquand) that they lost one of their men. He tells Willard that they will bury him (to pay respects to the fallen of their allies). What later follows is a solemn funeral for Clean. Following the recital of a poem by one of the French children (played by Roman Coppola and watched by older brother Gian-Carlo), the crew then has dinner with the new arrivals. Willard, sitting with the family, asks when they are going back to France. The family soon go into a long and lengthy argument over the First Indochina War and the Vietnam War. There is a dispute over "traitors at home" (e.g., the famous Henri Martin Affair) and most of the family leaves in anger. After they all leave, one, Roxanne (the only one not in the conversation, played by Aurore Clément), apologizes for her family's behavior. She and Willard later talk, smoke opium, and she later explains the conflicts her deceased husband had faced with himself during the Indochina War. After she undresses and approaches Willard, she tells him, "There are two of you, can't you see? One that kills, and one that loves." We later see the crew back on the river continuing the mission.
- In the original film, the PBR Street Gang crew members relax and play around, listening to the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" while Willard first looks at the dossier. The scene plays right before the crew members meet Kilgore. In the Redux version, the scene is moved to later in the film, and Willard is shown reading the dossier without the surrounding activity and music.
- In the original version, Willard first meets Kilgore when asking a fellow officer who simply replies, "He's over there, you can't miss him". In the Redux, the officer now says "There's the Colonel coming down". We later learn that Kilgore is arriving (via helicopter) to the scene. When he arrives, he tells an officer riding with him, "Lieutenant, bomb back that tree line 'bout a hundred yards, give me some room to breathe". He later asks another for his "Death Cards" (which he uses in the original version).
- During the raid, Kilgore looks over some of the wounded and dead. He then walks away, simply replying "Damn".
- After Kilgore has ordered an air strike, a Vietnamese mother, with her wounded child in hand, runs to Kilgore. Kilgore immediately takes the child and tells his men to rush the child to a hospital (mother as well) on his chopper.
- After the helicopter carrying the wounded child leaves, Kilgore hands Lance a new pair of shorts to go surfing in (Note: Throughout the original cut, Lance is wearing them, but it is never explained how he got them).
- After giving the famous "Napalm" speech, Kilgore soon learns that the napalm has changed the wind current, ruining the perfect waves. Willard immediately uses this as an excuse to leave. He and Lance run back to the boat. Before they leave, Willard steals Kilgore's surf board.
- Before Willard and Chef go to search for mangoes, there's a scene where the crew is lying around in a river. Chef asks Chief if he can go get some mangoes and Willard goes with him. The Redux version contains a new scene before this, in which it is clear that the crew are hiding from Kilgore, who is trying to get back his surf board. A helicopter soon flies by, carrying a recording by Kilgore, asking Lance for the board back. Chief then changes the subject by asking how far they are going up the river. Willard says it's classified. Chief later asks Willard if he likes it like that, "hot and hairy" (to which Willard replies: "Fuck. You don't get a chance to know what the fuck you are in some factory in Ohio"). Chef later asks Chief if he can get some mangoes.
- The day after the Playboy Playmates' USO show, we see the crewmembers talking about it. Chef is obsessed he was able to meet "Miss December". Clean then reminds Chef not to go crazy over his Playboy magazines, and proceeds to tell the story of an Army Sergeant who was so obsessed with his Playboys, he killed an ARVN Lieutenant who ruined his foldouts.
- The "Satisfaction" scene comes immediately after the above scene. In the following scene, Willard reads a letter by Kurtz, criticizing the incompetent young soldiers sent to Vietnam, blaming them for their losing.
- At one point during their travels, the crew stop at a destroyed Medevac. The area is completely wrecked, with no real commanding officer (much like the Do Lung Bridge sequence). Willard tries to find someone in charge, but later learns that the Playboy bunnies' helicopter has landed there. Willard then negotiates two barrels of fuel for an hour with the bunnies (along with the rest of the crew). Chef spends his time with his idol, Miss December (now Miss May), and Lance spends his time with the Playmate of the Year. Clean constantly interrupts, trying to get his turn. During one such interruption, a large cooler is upended, revealing the corpse of a soldier, which upsets the Playmate of the Year.
- After the above scene, Chef learns that Clean is still a virgin. Chef then makes fun of him for it, only to be stopped by Chief. The exchange is only partially heard in the original cut.
- After Chef's death, Willard is kept in a metal shipping container known as a "CONEX". Kurtz later sits outside the doors and reads Willard several Time Magazine articles detailing America's success in the war.
Production
Coppola started production for the new cut with working-partner Kim Aubry. Coppola then tried to get Murch, who was reluctant at first. He thought it would be extremely difficult recutting a film which had taken two years to edit originally. He later changed his mind (after working on the reconstruction of Orson Welles' Touch of Evil). Coppola and Murch then examined several of the rough prints and dailies for the film. It was decided early on the editing of the film would be like editing a new film altogether. One such example was the new French Plantation sequence. The scenes were greatly edited to fit into the movie originally, only to be cut out in the end. When working again on the film, instead of using the (heavily edited) version, Murch decided to work the scene all over again, editing it as if for the first time.
Much work was needed to be done to the new scenes. Due to the off-screen noises during the shoot, most of the dialogue was impossible to hear. During post-production of the film the actors were brought back to re-record their lines (known as ADR or dubbing). This was done for the scenes that made it into the original cut, but not for the deleted scenes. For the Redux version, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Sam Bottoms, Albert Hall, Frederic Forrest, and Aurore Clement were brought back to record ADR for the new scenes.
New music was composed and recorded for the re-made movie. For example, it was thought no music had been composed for Willard and Roxanne's romantic interlude in the French Plantation scene. To make matters worse, composer Carmine Coppola had died in 1991. However, the old recording and musical scores were checked and a track titled "Love Theme" was found; it turns out that during scoring, Francis Coppola had told his father (Carmine) to write a theme for the scene before it was ultimately deleted. For the remake, the track was recorded by a group of synthesists.
Vittorio Storaro also came back from Italy to head the development of a new color balance of the film and new scenes. When Redux was being released, Storaro learned that a Technicolor dye-transfer process was being brought back. The dye-transfer is a three-strip process that makes the color highly saturated and has consistent black tone. Storaro wished to use this on Redux, but in order to do it, he needed to cut the original negative of Apocalypse Now, leaving Apocalypse Now Redux the only version available. Storaro decided to do it, when convinced by Coppola that this version would be the one that would be remembered.
Reaction
Apocalypse Now Redux originally premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival in May.[1] The screening marked the anniversary of the famous Apocalypse Now screening as a work in progress, where it ended up winning the Palme d'Or. Coppola went to the festival, also with Murch, Storaro, production designer Dean Tavoularis, producer Kim Aubry and actors Sam Bottoms and Aurore Clement. The film met with overall positive response.
When it was released, the response from the critics was largely positive, holding a 92% rating at rottentomatoes. Some critics thought highly of the additions, such as A.O. Scott of the New York Times, who wrote that it "grows richer and stranger with each viewing, and the restoration of scenes left in the cutting room two decades ago has only added to its sublimity."[2]
Some critics, however, thought the new scenes slowed the pacing, were too lengthy (notably The French Plantation sequence), and added nothing overall to the film's impact. Owen Gleiberman wrote "Apocalypse Now Redux is the meandering, indulgent art project that [Francis Ford Coppola] was still enough of a craftsman, in 1979, to avoid." Despite this, other critics still gave it high ratings. Roger Ebert wrote: "Longer or shorter, redux or not, Apocalypse Now is one of the central events of my life as a filmgoer."
The film was given a limited release on August 3, 2001 where it took $4,626,290 overall.[3]
Soundtrack
A soundtrack for the movie was released on July 31, 2001 by Nonesuch. The soundtrack contains most of the original tracks (remastered), as well as some for the new scenes ("Clean's Funeral", "Love Theme"). The score was composed by Carmine Coppola and Francis Ford Coppola (with some tracks co-composed by Mickey Hart and Richard Hansen). The first track is an abridged version of The Doors' 11 minute long epic, "The End".
Track listing
- The End - The Doors
- The Delta - Carmine Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola
- Dossier - Carmine Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola
- Orange Light - Carmine Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola
- Ride of the Valkyries - Richard Wagner
- Suzie Q - Dale Hawkins - (Performed by Flash Cadillac)
- Nung River - Carmine Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola, Mickey Hart
- Do Lung - Carmine Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola, Richard Hansen
- Clean's Death - Carmine Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola, Mickey Hart
- Clean's Funeral - Carmine Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola
- Love Theme - Carmine Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola
- Chief's Death - Carmine Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola
- Voyage - Carmine Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola
- Chef's Head - Carmine Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola
- Kurtz' Chorale - Carmine Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola
- Finale - Carmine Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola
- "The Horror... The Horror" - Finale Quote of Marlon Brando's Character
References
External links
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