The last great Hollywood film

Rating: 10/10 (25 December 2003)

**Spoilers**
I first saw AN on TV while I was in high school. Then, I found it interesting and compelling,but the obtuse plot confused me and prompted me to venture into the kitchen for snacks a few times & I fell asleep before it ended. Although greater maturity may have given me new perspective, the added scenes are pivotal to the movie's themes & are crucial to understanding the film. Now, seeing this re-edited version on the big screen some 15 or so years later I realize what a masterpiece it is. Back then, I watched it to gain an understanding of Vietnam/war. Now, Armed with more knowledge of US (military) history (but not having read anything about the making of AN or "The Heart of Darkness", the book on which it was based), I realize that the movie wasn't really about Vietnam....or war, for that matter. The Vietnam War is really just the background/setting for the movie. "War is hell" is a rather cliche plot for war movies (and not really much of a plot in & of itself). AN avoids the cliche because it is really a study in human behaviour & social organization under duress. The film reveals how ritual makes or breaks individuals under duress. Take the early scene with the helicopters lifting off. Chef asks one soldier why he sits on his helmet, to which the soldier replies "to protect my balls". When Chef takes off his helmet & sits on it too, we see how ritual is born of superstition. Sitting on his helmet may not make him any safer, but the feeling of control over the situation helps them to survive (ease his nervousness & focus his attention on the matter at hand) while under attack. On first viewing, I had also assumed that Willard was the central character of the story. But he's not, he's the narrator & his fate is sealed in order to tell the "story" to its end. So not only is his cool, detached demeanor essential to his survival, it's also a literary device that's essential for the telling of the story. As a result, his behaviour is the least interesting of all the characters in the movie. He's a "special forces" man because he does what he's told & performs his duty to its end. Hence, his character does not develop in the film. *Spoilers* By contrast, the most interesting characters to watch are Lance & Chef. Only one of the two survives to the very end, and the reason why lies in the ability of his character to adapt to his environs. This is why the addition of the scenes contrasting the two of them with the Playboy bunnies really helps to make more sense of the subject matter. These scenes, which were not in the original, are the pivotal moment at which the characters' raison d'etre is put to the tests (& ironically it's not in war that this occurs). Chef takes the opportunity to play out the same fantasy he had before he came to Vietnam, having sex with Miss March. Lance, on the other hand, becomes more playful in the scene, plays with the bunny's make-up & in the process creates his own new ritual. Chef's inability to consumate a sexual relation with the Playboy bunny is unsatisfying/empty because he can't accomplish his goal given the circumstances. Lance, on the other hand, isn't remotely concerned with conquest & instead has entered a new world/frame of mind. From this point on, Lance cultivates this ritual (the scene with him applying camouflage while looking into the bunny's compact is particularly memorable). His behaviour may seem odd to the rest of the soldiers, but his previous (American) personality (as a California surfing stud) becomes more hidden behind the mask. Hence, he's able to "go native" and mingle with the inhabitants of the primitive society at the end of the river unmolested. Willard also survives because he is the chosen one, the white god they were expecting. He comes from the same clan ("special forces") as Kurtz & was chosen to replace him, however he had not shed is previous (American) skin & so he (unlike Lance) must be initiated with his own rite of passage (hence the mud bath to darken his skin & then being imprisoned) before being allowed in (which Lance does not have to go through). Chef, on the other hand, is still fighting the war by the time they reach The End, his character hasn't changed; hence, he becomes The Other/enemy to this primitive society and must be eliminated. *End Spoilers* The addition of the scenes of the french outpost were also a welcome addition, since they helped to develop the contrast between "civilized" society & primitive. However, the inclusion of the romance/sex scenes (from the end of the dinner til the widow & Willard are in bed) detracted from the movie because they were really out of character for Willard. However, the scenes up to the end of dinner illustrated effectively how "civilized" society copes in the face of adversity, with its private & emotional acts of violence, it's need to intellectually justify it's actions (in order to successfully ignore what is actually happening). The political diatribes at the dinner table felt a bit heavy-handed while watching them. However, in retrospect, they were a fairly accurate portrait of French-US encounters at that time. Outside of Willard's sex scene, the only other scene that felt completely out of place in this re-edit was the scene where they open their mail. Where did this mail come from? The scene definitely felt out of place because it was used (the playing of the tape from home) to heighten the dramatic effect of war while providing an explanation for how Willard got his updated information on Kurtz. The only thing bad one can say about this movie is that it magnifies how awful Hollywood films have become. Only a handful have been worth watching (LA Confidential, American Beauty, The Man Who Wasn't There) & only 1 (Brazil, which probably wasn't even a Hollywood studio) film over the past 25 years has been able to match it in quality/complexity/development/cinematography/etc.