I stayed up until 2A.M. watching Apocalypse Now Redux. The movie was very good, but took a serious wrong turn with the French Plantation scene. It seemed an ill attempt at adding discursive philosophy to the film. It was unnecessary and broke the spell of the river travel.
Apocalypse Now is very much a symbol-journey, such as Dante’s Commedia. Hellish and absurd. An insane carnival of what is commonly bad in men, and what is truly horrific. It made me want to read Conrad.
Have you seen the documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now, called Hearts of Darkness? If not, I highly recommend it. Amazing the movie ever got made, when you see everything Coppola went through during the filming of it.
ReplyDeleteI haven't, no. I saw mention of it in something I was reading about A.N. I may have to find and watch it. At some point, I'd like to watch the original cut.
ReplyDeleteAnother great movie which faced impossible odds of being completed is Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo. Burden of Dreams documents the making of it. If you haven't seen Fitzcarraldo, it's a movie about a man who pulled a ship over a mountain. The filming of it was nearly as insane as the story itself.
I loved Fitzcarraldo! I had heard that some of the extras on that film were so fed up with Kinski's tirades they offered to kill him for Herzog. I hadn't heard of Burden of Dreams. I'll definitely look for that. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAh, yeah, I'm betting you've seen My Best Fiend. Yes?
ReplyDeleteNo, I haven't. I heard him talking about it in an interview. I believe it was on NPR's Fresh Air. He said they were "dead" serious about their offer. But he respectfully declined, stating he needed Kinksi alive to finish the movie.
ReplyDeleteMy Best Fiend is worth watching if you are a Herzog fan. It wasn't until after I had seen it that someone corrected me on it being FIEND and not FRIEND. Makes all the difference.
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