Near Hell, stir crazy

Rating: 10/10 (8 June 2001)

I first saw Apocalypse Now on TV and it seemed I had forgotten it all except the fact that I didn't find it all that good. The higher the expectations, the deeper the let-down. This year the 'Redux' version has been released and it was time for giving it a second chance. The jungle edge appears on screen. A dusty frame. Then the sound, dust-erratic. Eventually the music heralding the end slices through the dust. To no avail: Jim Morrison's voice permanently settles the torpor of violence that encompasses the whole movie. With no exit. Neither in Saigon nor at the end of the river. The napalm reminds me of what was this movie about. The heavy flames swallowing the resigned trees, human beings at odds with it... this is simply not the typical quest you could easily remember. No Graal, no Lost Ark. You're not relieved to see the hero achieving his goal.
From beginning to end the movie is top art. Coppola likes to shoot his main character telling his mind with few lines but trying to make do with more nervous characters. The Conversation, The Godfather, and even Dracula works that way. You might find it brilliant but you might as well find it boring. The new scenes in the 'Redux' version are not less brilliant (i.e. interesting for movie enthusiasts at least) but do they make the movie greater? Anyway it would have been a pity if bunnies and French colonials had not cast a new light on war Viet-Nam.