His way

>> A covert chat with Francis Ford Coppola about Apocalypse Now Redux

by JOANNE LATIMER

Francis Ford Coppola was like a caricature of a proud grandfather. The progeny in question

wasn't a child, however, but a film. Twenty-two years after winning the Palm d'Or for Apocalypse Now, he returned to the Croisette with the film's final edit tucked under his arm. Nobody was going to tell him he was over budget and nobody in the cast was going to die on location. He wanted closure and he got it. Apocalypse Now Redux, the new version, stunned audiences at Cannes and shamed the rest of the competition.

After the screening, there was nothing left for Coppola to do but enjoy himself. He wore his trademark beret and Hawaiian shirt as he sipped Evian in the American Pavilion. He waved to old friends at the bar and graciously acknowledged the envy-tainted praise of colleagues who stopped by the table to gush.

Unlike his younger disciples, Coppola wore his festival credentials around his neck--ungainly dog tags that they are--and didn't take his royal status for granted. He even fielded a few unofficial questions without furrowing his brow and calling his publicist.

"Yes, I'm finally satisfied that this is the best, most complete version of the film. It's over, rest assured," claimed Coppola, calling over actor Sam Bottoms (who plays Lance in Apocalypse Now) to share a drink. Their body language revealed a kinship forged on set in the Philippines. "This definitive version presents the Vietnam theme in a more diverse way. It tries less to be a war film and tries more to be an anti-lie film. It tries to deal with claims of morality in a non-moral situation such as war."

As Coppola spoke, Bottoms was trying to read my press pass to determine if I was worthy of a comment. A weekly newspaper in Montreal wasn't the prime exposure he was looking for, so I started moving around to keep him from reading the pass. His eyes darted back and forth, trained on the pass, which was soon swinging wildly to each side.

"We originally shot 1.1 million feet of film and my first rough edit ran at about 4.2 hours," recalled Coppola. "We just couldn't make the film that long in '79. Audiences at the time wouldn't have accepted it, but viewers today are much more sophisticated. The new version is down to 3.2 hours, and that's exactly what it should be."

Dollars and sense

Back in '79, Coppola was under tremendous pressure to cut a version of the film that would be a crowd-pleaser at the festival.

"If it didn't perform well, we would be ruined," he said, about his production company American Zoetrope. "When you own the negative of a film, you can do what you want, make your own decision, but you can also sink yourself. After Apocalypse Now, I was exhausted, but also very worried about going broke. I made One From the Heart because it would be a more acceptable subject that would bail us out. But it didn't turn out that way. Apocalypse became a classic and One from the Heart sunk. It took me more than 10 years, between the ages of 40 and 50, to pay off those debts."

Coppola finds today's film studios too focused on box office grosses, stars and executive bonuses. "They tend to be in the money-making business rather than the movie business," he explained, then quickly leaned in to read my press pass and turned to Bottoms to say "Montreal."

"They want you to make the same film over and over again. However, now I am ready and plan to begin a film more in the enormous mould of an Apocalypse Now or The Godfather epic--a mysterious, big picture has me very excited once again."

Like what? He wouldn't say. Bottoms looked away. Coppola's last few films, like Jack The Rainmaker and especially The Godfather Part III, aren't in any danger of overshadowing his future epics.

"If you live long enough, people tend to re-evaluate your pictures, even critics," Coppola smiled at the mention of Jack. "New opinions are always more favourable. They forget the gossip. Ironically, for Apocalypse Now, the gossip helped fuel a mythology about the film that actually allowed me to remake it 22 years later. For this, I'm grateful."