sympathy for the remake

Rating: 10/10 (21 October 2006)

Like many people, I have mixed emotions about AN Redux. I was a devotee of the original, and I had difficulty imaging how it could be improved upon. Watching "Redux," I felt like the quality of the dialogue in the added scenes lagged behind that of the rest of the movie. Plus, rather than being inexorably pulled toward Kurtz's lair, you felt pulled off course by some of the scenes. All that being said, the added scenes do give extra insight into Willard's character. For that, I think they are worthwhile.
In the original, you see the Captain as a shell of a man, haunted by the ghosts of things he has seen and done. As he travels down the river to meet Kurtz, you know that he recognizes the similarities between himself and his intended target, but you don't as completely realize what the differences are between the two men. This is important, because the differences are what give you hope that Willard may be able to escape the insanity that has overcome Kurtz.
In "Redux," Willard displays that, though emotionally damaged, he is still capable of compassion toward other human beings (namely the PBR Streetgang crew). In the infamous Playboy bunny scene, where Willard trades 2 barrels of precious diesel fuel for 2 hours with the Playboy bunnies for his crewmates, his actions are not expedient, but they are kind. "Charlie doesn't get much R&R," Willard says earlier in the film. Yet, when he has a chance to grant his men what is basically a dying-man's wish, he does it unhesitatingly. One knows that Kurtz would not have not have done the same thing, having abandoned compassion long ago.
Similarly, the French plantation scene depicts Willard as someone who, although racked by guilt, is not so far gone that he would refuse grace, in the form of a lovely, sympathetic French woman. Although I think the dialogue in this scene is awkward and clunky, I get the point. Sex becomes a metaphor for forgiveness, grace, etc. The person who is capable of accepting grace may be able to escape with their sanity. Again, Kurtz is beyond this, but Willard might not be.
The added scene with Willard's encounter with Kurtz in the shipping container prison, surrounded by Montagnard children is also, I think, helpful in clarifying the ending of the movie. After his final, symbolic act of killing Kurtz, Willard has the chance to call in the Arclight strike, and destroy completely all traces of the compound. You sense that this is what Kurtz would have done, innocents, children, and all. Willard's turning-off of the radio back on the patrol boat is a clear rejection of Kurtz's philosophy of horror. With the addition of the scene with the children, you have a better sense of exactly what he is rejecting.
In the end, I thought for all the remake's flaws, Willard's character came out of "Redux" as more well-rounded character, with a sense of compassion and honor. Even the act of killing Kurtz comes across more clearly as an act of mercy (among its other meanings). After watching "Redux," the original film seems richer, and the ending a little less dark. For the doubters out there, my suggestion is to give "Redux" a chance (flaws and all), because it gives you an opportunity to watch the original with new eyes. Just remember the good parts, forget the bad.