Apocalypse Now Redux

Had previously attempted to watch this on television quite a while back. Why a free-to-air network would show this version and not the original cut bemuses me. It's not as if they've shown the original many a time. It was shown very late and the running time eventually led to me falling asleep at the couch. Borrowed this DVD at the library. Strangely, they too only had the redux edition.

The film was good viewing. Rather confusing though, particularly when dealing with Kurtz's character. I'm semi-positive I understand what it was all about, being a kind of reflection of US involvement in the Vietnam war.

The backstory of the production of the film is rather fascinating. I'll be hunting 'Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse' sooner or later. I think (I think I think) that I would have liked to have seen Keitel as Willard. Sheen's face was too kind. I've just read from two sources that also suggest that Keitel would have made a more forceful Willard (though one contends that Sheen does not succeed, while the other does).

I had been expecting Brando to be grossly overweight. Like morbidly so. He wasn't too bad, though his accent didn't match the character. I just kept hearing Don Vito. Would have been interesting if Brando could have starved himself to depict Kurtz as he was in the novel. Again, I had no clue what Kurtz was all about... insanity, madness themes, bla.

Gah, I've lost my way with this shamble of a review. Urgh... other positives: great directing, lots of nice details, loved the horror elements (scary), I dig Robert Duvall (we all do, right?). Negatives: electronic flavoured score was dodgy, last half hour or so (with Brando) was anti-climactic

An analogy I thought up a few nights ago (and reminded to me by Ebert): the movie is like a series of paintings, perhaps like Goya's Black Paintings. As a whole, you might not like them, but individually they can be quite brilliant.

Postscript: Fascinating to read of a 289 minute 'version' of the film. Lots of raw footage and stuff. 'Flight of the Valkyries' sequence is thirty minutes, kinda shows how extensive Coppola went.