February 15, 2006 – “Apocalypse Now Redux”. The plot is simple, but the experience is anything but. In the midst of the Vietnam Conflict, Captain Benjamin L. Willard (Martin Sheen [“The West Wing”]) has been charged with a mission. His objective is to travel to Cambodia to bring to “justice” a renegade green beret named Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando [“The Godfather”]). Along the way, we see Vietnam, the war, the people, the soldiers, the campaign and its glaring failings through Willard’s eyes, as he tumbles further and further into the heart of darkness (“Heart of Darkness” is also, incidentally, the name of the book by Joseph Conrad that the film’s based on).
Profound. That’s the best word to use in describing “Apocalypse Now Redux”, profoundly weird, profoundly entertaining, profoundly revealing, profoundly informative, etc… It’s a different kind of film than you’ll ever see. Different even than other films of its genre, because it feels like and is structured more like “The Odyssey” than a regular war picture. Willard’s odyssey forms the heart of “Redux”, but at the same time the Vietnam Conflict on some level always remains at the forefront. Meaning that even though it’s about this story, this odyssey, it still more than manages to tell the story of the war as a whole, showing it in all its reality and surrealism along the way. And although what we’re shown is kind of out there at times, it always, always remains grounded in reality. “Redux” is never unrealistic in my opinion. It’s just that it’s not your average everyday war film or any other kind of film for that matter. It’s more artistic than, say, something like “Hamburger Hill” is, while remaining more action-adventure oriented than, say, something like “The Thin Red Line”. In fact, I believe it’s more adventurous, driven, and entertaining than any other Vietnam movie I’ve ever seen, and also correlates greatly with what’s going on today in Iraq, and how not much has changed, at least, philosophy-wise, in the way the Vietnam campaign was run and the way this one in Iraq is now being executed. On a lighter note, “Redux”‘s worth a viewing just for Robert Duvall’s (“Kicking & Screaming”) “I love the smell of napalm in the morning!” scene-stealing turn. Plus, it’s cool to see a young Harrison Ford (“Firewall”) and an even younger Laurence Fishburne (“The Matrix”) grace the screen with their presences, and, of course, the legendary Marlon Brando lights it up as well in one of the ultimate star parts (a star part is one in which a major star is cast in a role that doesn’t require much screen time and none until late in the film after their character has been talked up from the beginning of the film to the point of his or her entrance) right up there with Orson Welles (“Citizen Kane”) in “The Third Man”. I mean, truly Brando’s part and performance are something to behold, and it along with the last hour or so of “Redux” illicit many a WTF? But it’s not because you don’t believe it, but because you do believe it, and just can’t fathom it. I can never make up my mind as to whether “Apocalypse Now” is over my head, pure insanity, or both. Either way it makes you think, even if it’s just you trying to make logic out of it all. Bottom line, “Redux” is never uninteresting or short of stark imagery, and those are two of the main reasons why it should make your must list and is always on mine.