The French Plantation Sequence FINALLY Explained | Ep19 | Making Apocalypse Now

Summary

The script delves into the complex production history of Francis Ford Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now,' focusing on the French Plantation sequence. Initially cut due to its high cost and narrative tangent, the sequence was later restored in the Redux version. It explores themes of colonialism, war, and the stubborn persistence of history's remnants, with a detailed look at the set's opulence, the director's creative struggles, and the eventual inclusion of this surreal, dreamlike scene in the final cut.

Takeaways

• 🎬 The French Plantation sequence in 'Apocalypse Now' was initially cut from the film due to the difficulties and frustrations faced during its production.
• 🌫️ The sequence was intended to be dreamlike and ghostly, with fog playing a significant role in creating the atmosphere.
• 📚 The script was revisited to reflect historical context, showing the French colonial past in Vietnam and the subsequent conflicts.
• 👨‍👧‍👦 Director Francis Ford Coppola incorporated personal elements, such as having his sons act in the scene and using a family anecdote for authenticity.
• 🍽️ A real French gourmet meal was prepared for the actors to enhance the realism of the scene, emphasizing the importance of sensory details in storytelling.
• 💸 The production was over budget, leading to cost-cutting measures such as hiring cheaper actors and concerns over the expensive set design.
• 🏆 Despite the financial strain, the set design won an Oscar for its meticulous detail, showcasing the dedication to authenticity in art direction.
• 🌅 The use of 'magic hour' lighting added to the dreamlike quality of the scene but also limited the shooting time, adding pressure to the production.
• 🎥 Coppola's preferred method of continuous shooting was challenged by the complexities of the scene, leading to a shift in approach partway through.
• 🗣️ Language barriers and pronunciation issues added to the difficulties, with Coppola going to great lengths to correct lines and ensure clarity.
• 📹 The final cut of the film did not include the French Plantation sequence, but it was later included in the Redux version, offering fans a complete vision of Coppola's work.

Q & A

Why was the French Plantation sequence in 'Apocalypse Now' considered difficult to film?

The French Plantation sequence was challenging due to various factors such as weather conditions, budget constraints, and creative differences. Director Francis Ford Coppola faced issues with the fog, the need for additional fog machines, and the frustration of not being able to capture all the expensive set details on camera.

What was the historical context of the French Plantation scene in the film?

The scene is set against the backdrop of French colonial history in Vietnam, starting from the colonization by Napoleon III's France in 1857, through the exploitation of Vietnamese resources, the rise of Ho Chi Minh's Communist movement, and the eventual French departure after the loss at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.

How did the typhoon impact the filming of the French Plantation sequence?

The typhoon caused significant damage to several sets, including the first structure seen in the plantation. This led to the need for reshoots, including the approach to the dock, to capture the right mood for the scene.

What was the significance of the poem 'The Albatross' in the dinner scene?

The poem 'The Albatross' by Baudelaire, which was recited by Roman Coppola's character, symbolizes the cruelty of life and the plight of the poet, stranded on Earth. It serves as a metaphor for the French family's situation, clinging to their colonial past amidst the changing tides of history.

Why was the French Plantation sequence eventually cut from the original release of 'Apocalypse Now'?

Coppola decided to cut the sequence due to its high cost and the frustration he experienced during filming. He felt that the scene did not contribute significantly to the main narrative of Willard's journey upriver to find Kurtz.

How did the Hearts of Darkness documentary bring attention to the French Plantation sequence?

The Hearts of Darkness documentary, released in 1991, included excerpts from the French Plantation sequence, giving the public a glimpse of the expensive and complex scene that was initially left out of the film.

What was the role of Vittorio Storaro in the French Plantation sequence?

Vittorio Storaro was the cinematographer for 'Apocalypse Now'. He was responsible for the lighting and visual composition of the French Plantation sequence, aiming to create a dream-like atmosphere with the use of fog and shadows.

How did the casting process for the French Plantation sequence affect the filming?

The casting process was stressful and last-minute, with some actors being flown in less than two weeks before shooting. Language barriers and the use of non-actors added to the challenges faced by Coppola during the filming.

What was the significance of the French gourmet chef and the real food served during the meal scene?

The use of a French gourmet chef and real food added authenticity to the scene and enhanced the sensory experience for the actors. It also symbolized the lavish and surreal nature of the French family's existence amidst the war.

How did the filming techniques used by Coppola during the French Plantation sequence differ from his usual approach?

Coppola typically prefers to keep the cameras rolling and play out scenes completely to capture momentum and intuition. However, due to the difficulties faced during the French Plantation sequence, he resorted to shooting the scene in pieces, which was a departure from his usual method.

When was the full French Plantation sequence finally released to the public?

The full French Plantation sequence was included in the Redux version of 'Apocalypse Now', which was released in 2001, allowing the public to see the complete scene for the first time.

Outlines

00:00

🎬 The Struggles of the French Plantation Scene

The French Plantation sequence from 'Apocalypse Now' is renowned for its challenging production. Director Francis Ford Coppola faced significant difficulties during filming, leading to the scene's initial omission from the film. It was later included in the Redux version. The sequence was intended to symbolize a journey back in time, reflecting the history of Vietnam's colonization by France. Despite the serene imagery, the shoot was plagued with issues, including budget overruns and the typhoon damage to sets. The detailed planning and Coppola's creative vision are highlighted, along with the historical context of French colonization in Vietnam.

05:02

🏰 The Stubborn Legacy of French Colonizers

This paragraph delves into the narrative of the French family clinging to their plantation amidst the Vietnam War, symbolizing the remnants of colonialism. The family, isolated from both French and Vietnamese identities, represents a stubborn past that refuses to yield to the present. The paragraph explores the family's history, their pride in their colonial legacy, and the sense of displacement they feel. It also touches on the filming challenges, including Coppola's personal involvement in casting and the use of authentic French cuisine to enhance the scene's realism.

10:03

🌅 The Elaborate Set and Artistic Visions

The paragraph describes the meticulous construction of the French Plantation set, which was filled with antiques and detailed decorations to create an authentic colonial atmosphere. It discusses the sourcing of props and furniture from various locations and the significant costs involved, which shocked Coppola. The artistic vision of the set is contrasted with the financial constraints of the production, highlighting the tension between creating a rich visual experience and managing the budget.

15:04

🌆 The Magic Hour and Lighting Challenges

This section focuses on the technical aspects of filming the French Plantation scene, particularly the use of 'magic hour' lighting to enhance the dreamlike quality of the sequence. It discusses the collaboration between Coppola and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, who employed his philosophy of color to represent different themes and emotions. The paragraph also touches on the limited shooting time due to the brief window of optimal light and the impact this had on the filming process.

20:07

📽️ Coppola's Creative Process and Setbacks

The paragraph details Coppola's approach to filming, which involved long, continuous takes to capture the flow of the scene. However, this method, which had served him well in the past, failed to produce the desired results during the French Plantation sequence. The summary outlines the challenges Coppola faced, including pronunciation issues with actors, the language barrier, and the difficulty of working with non-actors. It also discusses the emotional intensity of the scene and the efforts to create a realistic and immersive experience.

25:11

🏝️ The Dinner Debate and Colonial Reflections

This section captures the essence of the dinner scene, where family members express their views on colonialism, the Vietnam War, and the French-American involvement in Indochina. It highlights the ideological clashes and personal stories that unfold during the meal, reflecting the broader historical and political tensions of the time. The summary also touches on the symbolic representation of the family's unity and disunity, as well as the emotional and psychological impact of the war on the characters.

🗑️ The Cutting Room Floor and Rediscovery

The final paragraph discusses the ultimate decision to cut the French Plantation sequence from the original release of 'Apocalypse Now,' despite the significant effort and cost involved in its production. It explains Coppola's dissatisfaction with the scene and its impact on the film's narrative flow. The summary also mentions the scene's eventual inclusion in the Redux version and its reception by audiences, as well as the legacy of the sequence as captured in the 'Hearts of Darkness' documentary.

Keywords

💡Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American epic war film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It is notable for its intense and surreal depiction of the Vietnam War, drawing on Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness. In the video, the French Plantation sequence from the movie is discussed, highlighting the challenges of filming this particular scene and its eventual exclusion and inclusion in different versions of the film.

💡French Plantation sequence

The French Plantation sequence refers to a specific part of the film Apocalypse Now that was set in a French colonial rubber plantation in Vietnam. The script describes it as a challenging and expensive scene to film, which was initially cut from the movie but later included in the Redux version. It represents a surreal and dreamlike episode in the movie, contrasting with the harsh realities of war.

💡Hearts of Darkness

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is a 1991 documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now, focusing on the struggles and chaos that occurred during its production. The documentary provided the first public glimpses of the French Plantation sequence in 1991, offering insight into the difficulties faced by director Francis Ford Coppola.

💡Redux version

The Redux version of Apocalypse Now refers to an extended re-release of the film in 2001, which included additional scenes and footage not present in the original 1979 release. One of the key additions was the full French Plantation sequence, which had been cut from the original film due to the director's dissatisfaction with the scene.

💡Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola is an acclaimed American film director, producer, and screenwriter, best known for his work on The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. In the context of the video, Coppola's struggles with filming the French Plantation sequence are highlighted, showcasing his creative process, the challenges he faced, and his eventual decision to cut the scene from the original release.

💡Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It is a central theme in Apocalypse Now, with the French Plantation sequence serving as a surreal and symbolic representation of the historical and cultural complexities of the region during the war.

💡Colonialism

Colonialism in the video refers to the historical period of French control over Vietnam, beginning in the 19th century. The French Plantation sequence reflects the legacy of colonialism, showing a French family stubbornly clinging to their plantation despite the end of French rule and the ongoing Vietnam War.

💡Cultural clash

Cultural clash is a concept that emerges from the French Plantation sequence, illustrating the tension and conflict between the French colonizers and the Vietnamese people, as well as between the French family and the American soldiers who encounter them in the film.

💡Do Lung Bridge sequence

The Do Lung Bridge sequence is another part of Apocalypse Now that preceded the French Plantation sequence in the film's production. It represents a significant and costly endeavor in the movie's filming process, contributing to the pressure Coppola felt during the French Plantation sequence's production.

💡Filmmaking challenges

Filmmaking challenges encompass the various difficulties faced during the production of a film, including logistical, financial, and creative obstacles. The video script details the numerous challenges Coppola encountered while filming the French Plantation sequence, such as budget overruns, casting issues, and artistic disagreements.

💡Historical context

Historical context is crucial for understanding the French Plantation sequence as it relates to the broader history of French colonization of Vietnam and the subsequent conflicts leading up to the Vietnam War. The video provides a brief overview of this history, setting the stage for the plantation sequence's significance within the film.

Highlights

The French Plantation sequence in 'Apocalypse Now' was a challenging and expensive part of the film to shoot, ultimately cut from the original release.

The sequence was not seen by the public until the release of the Hearts of Darkness documentary in 1991 and the Redux version of the film in 2001.

Coppola's vision for the sequence was to show a journey back in time, with the French Plantation representing a historical step in Vietnam's past.

Financial pressures from the overbudget Do Lung Bridge sequence influenced decisions on the French Plantation shoot.

The historical context provided details on French colonization of Vietnam and the subsequent wars for independence.

Coppola's meticulous attention to detail included re-shooting the approach to the dock for the right mood and using fog machines to create a dreamlike setting.

The French Plantation was staffed with French actors, despite budget constraints, to add authenticity to the setting.

Coppola's creative process involved using the entire set and environment to inspire the staging and mood of the scene.

The meal scene was filmed with real food prepared by a French gourmet chef, emphasizing the importance of authenticity in the film.

Coppola's approach to filming involved long takes to capture the flow and momentum of the scene, despite the increased cost.

Language barriers and casting challenges added to the difficulties of shooting the French Plantation sequence.

The use of lighting and color by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro was integral to creating the dreamlike and dramatic atmosphere of the scene.

Coppola's frustration with the shoot led to the scene being cut from the original film, despite the elaborate set and high production value.

The Hearts of Darkness documentary provided the first public glimpse of the French Plantation sequence, offering insight into the challenges faced during filming.

The Redux version's release finally allowed audiences to see the full French Plantation sequence, showcasing the creative vision and historical context.

Coppola's reflections on the sequence highlight the balance between creative ambition and practical constraints in film production.

Transcripts

Throw me the glasses.

The patrol boat emerges from the mist to find a strange sight–a rubber plantation nestled

in the jungle.

The French Plantation sequence in Apocalypse Now has an interesting reputation.

Of all the extremely difficult shoots in the mud and rain and heat and night shoots it

feels as though the French Plantation sequence must have been a joy to shoot.

But this scene proved to be one of the most frustrating for Coppola to film and it upset

him so much that he ended up cutting it from the movie.

It wasn’t until 1991 that people finally saw pieces of this super expensive fifteen

minute sequence in the Hearts of Darkness documentary and ten years after that, the

public would finally be able to see the full sequence when the Redux version of the movie

was released.

We are going to take a look at how difficult this scene was to shoot, what the scene adds

to the overall story, and why the directing technique that gave Coppola amazing results

in the past just didn’t seem to work

this time.

After the extremely hectic night shoot that was the Do Lung Bridge sequence, Coppola could

finally turn his attention to a sequence at a French plantation.

By this point in the production, Coppola was really feeling the pressure.

The Do Lung sequenced had pushed the production over budget and he still had a ways to go,

so he would need to figure out how to tighten his belt before things got way out of control.

Coppola: “Well my idea was, as they progressed up the river, they were going back more and

more in time in a funny kind of way.

That we were revisiting the history of Vietnam in reverse and the first stop was in the 50s

almost.

We were now with the French.

To put the scene in context, here is a very brief overview of how we got to this point.

All the way back in 1857, Napoleon III's France began colonizing Vietnam for land and trade

(Britannica).

By 1893, they controlled Vietnam and surrounding areas–heavily exploiting the Vietnamese

people and their resources (Britannica).

The oppressed Vietnamese people protested and, by the 1900s, sought liberation from

French rule.

In the early 1930s, Ho Chi Minh's Communist movement became the dominant nationalist force

(Britannica).

In 1946, the first Indochina War began with the territories under French rule fighting

for independence.

By 1954, “the United States was paying for 78%” of France’s war–aiming to stop

the spread of communism during their cold war with the Soviet Union (Hearts & Minds).

But in the same year, the French finally agreed to leave Indochina after a devastating military

loss at Dien Bien Phu–Vietnam was split: the North, controlled by communists, and the

South by a US-backed government (Britannica).

As the South's communist Viet Cong rebels grew stronger, the US escalated its military

support (Britannica).

And here we are–well into the war in 1969, and the patrol boat docks at a rubber plantation

run by a French family who never left.

The first structure we see is pretty much destroyed, this is another example of the

damage done by the real typhoon that destroyed several sets.

Apparently, Coppola had Storaro reshoot the approach to the dock in an attempt to strike

the right note (Cowie 74).

“This is French Plantation discussion.”

Coppola: “The French Plantation, the whole scene is going to be made of wisps of fog,

close to the ground, and like, a place that’s like a dream.

We need more fog machines.

Have more than enough machines.

How much do they cost?

Can I buy the ones I already bought?

Okay, I’ll give them to you as a gift after the show, but have enough of them.

Now, I want some real machine guns.

Get the PC to go up and strafe the side of that house as though Fidel Castro had his

last stand there.”

I believe this is what the first building looked like before the typhoon got to it.

They filmed the approach as early in the morning as they could so that the fog would stay close

to the cool water (Zeismer 259).

Willard, Chef, and Lance look around before being confronted by French fighters.

There is a bit where Chef realizes that they are French and begins talking to them because

he studied sauce-making at a culinary school in France.

In Coppola’s 1975 rewrite of the script, this happens while they are still on the boat

and Willard encourages Chef to try speaking to them in French.

The French seem to appear almost magically from the mist.

Coppola: “That it was a kind of ghostly afterview of something almost like they talk

about the light from a star as we see it, but the star is already dead You know, that

kind of a mood.”

They meet the leader.

My name is Hubert de Marias.

This is my family’s plantation.

It has been such for seventy years, and it will be such until we are all dead.

70 years would put his family’s arrival at the turn of the century–a time when the

French government took land from Vietnamese peasants and gave it to French investors who

would take the resources and export it for a quick profit (Britannica).

Coppola’s rewrite of the script says 121 years, which I believe would go back to around

the time that the French first arrived in Southeast Asia.

This version also mentions Hubert’s son having fought in the battle of Dien Bien Phu,

in which the French lost the first Indochina War and left Southeast Asia (Britannica).

This shows that, while the French left in 1954, this family stubbornly stayed.

And while the Vietnamese have taken back their land, they haven’t been able to take back

the small piece of land that this plantation is built on.

There were still a few hundred of them left on plantations all over Vietnam, trying to

keep themselves convinced that it was still 1950.

They weren’t French anymore and they’d never be Vietnamese.

They were floating loose in history without a country.

They were hanging on by their fingernails, but so were we.

We just had more fingernails in it.

In Coppola’s rewrite, Hubert’s name is Gaston and the sequence begins with him offering

the crew a chance to shower.

He shows Willard a large 100-foot-wide bomb crater in the jungle that the children are

using as a swimming pool.

He feels a sense of pride for it, implying that he admires how his Western allies, the

United States, are able to beat down the Vietnamese in a way that the French weren’t able to.

But now let’s turn our attention to the first day of shooting.

On the morning of August 23rd, 1976, Coppola and his family got up extra early to make

the two-and-a-half-hour drive from their house in Manilla to the French plantation set in

Pagsanjan–hoping to arrive by 7am for rehearsal (Coppola 114).

The two boys, Gio and Roman would come along with their parents because they would be acting

in the scene.

Roman would recite a French poem at the table for his character’s father–a moment pulled

straight from real life as Roman had been asked to recite the same poem for his real

father “dozens of times” before (Coppola 116).

They rushed out the door before eating breakfast, so Eleanor brought “some hard-boiled eggs

and some tangerines” (Coppola 116).

The eleven-year-old Roman leaned against his mother, putting his shoes on as they drove–he

hadn’t brushed his teeth or combed his hair (Coppola 116).

I love the familiar image of a family rushing out the door to make it somewhere on time,

only this time it’s the Coppolas on the way to make cinema history.

When Coppola arrived on the set, much of the crew was already there busy and making noise,

which irritated him because he likes to stand in the set in “complete stillness” to

think about how he wants to stage the scene (Coppola 114).

He asked everyone to leave so he could take in the set by himself and consider his approach

(Coppola 114).

The camera first sees Chef who can’t believe how good the food is and it wasn’t even

cooked by a French chef.

Coppola had convinced French New Wave pioneer Jean-luc Godard’s longtime collaborator

Jean-Pierre Gorin to come to the Philippines to visit and teach Frederick Forrest about

French cuisine (Cowie 71).

Gorin noted that, by the time he arrived, the cast looked like they had been there 200

years (Cowie 71).

Although only see the back of Chief for a second in this scene, there is a bit with

him and LeFarve that was in the workprint.

What’s the other end of that river?

River?

There are thousands of rivers, And no map.

Nothing… and Desmois.

Demois?

What’s Desmois?

Savage.

We then cut to the main table where Roman recites the poem.

Hubert mentions that the poem is by Baudelaire, saying that it is cruel for children but they

need to learn that life is cruel.

The poem is called The Albatross and depicts the bird being being caught in a net and dragged

onto a boat where it limps around the deck while the sailors laugh and bully it (Albatross).

Apparently this is something Baudelaire actually witnessed in 1841 and in the poem compares

the Albatross to “a poet stranded on the Earth” (Albatross).

Willard, Hubert, Christian, Anne-Marie, the old blind uncle, Claudine, the tutor, and

Phillippe all sit around the table enjoying a fancy meal.

Coppola: “White wine should be served ice cold.

Red wine should be served at about fifty-eight degrees–should be opened approximately an

hour to an hour and a half to even two hours before serve.

I want a French ceremony that is right out of a fuckin’–I want the French to say,

‘My god!

How did they do that!?’”

The meal the actors had was totally real.

Coppola had flown in a French gourmet chef from Hong Kong and the waiters were from a

French restaurant in Manila (Zeismer 259).

They built a full kitchen into the set so the chefs could cook as they filmed and they

even brought in a technical advisor who made sure that everything involved with the presentation

and service of the food and wine was correct (Zeismer 259).

Coppola: “And I always have something–an element that’s sensual.

It’s very important.

Part of it is that they have to make their lunch and there’s a lot of ham and swiss

cheese and bread and they have to actually– Something about food is, we have such a direct

relationship with food that it endorses the rest of it–the fiction that’s going on

because food’s not fiction.”

Coppola even had an empty bottle of 1954 Latour wine that he had kept on his mantle in San

Francisco shipped to the Philippines for the scene (Cowie 74).

Coppola managed to get his sons for the scene, but other than that, several of the actors

in the scene weren't his first choice.

Coppola: “But like, three or four French people, and I’ll spend money for it, but

I don’t want to fly them in from France.

If you can’t get them from Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Okinawa, then I will fly them from

France.”

The parts were still being cast and actors were being flown in less than two weeks before

shooting the scene (Cowie 71).

Because the production had gone way over budget, Coppola opted to go with cheaper actors for

some of the roles instead of his first choices–after all, he was putting up the money himself (Travers

137).

Production designer Dean Tavoularis recommended an old friend named Christian Marquand to

play the role of Hubert De Marias (Cowie 73).

Marquand had acted in everything from early French New Wave movies to Hollywood epics

(Cowie 73).

Marquand had also introduced Coppola to his close friend Marlon Brando before the filming

of The Godfather (Cowie 73).

Dean Tavoularis said, “‘I remember when I was first conceiving this set,[...] the

decorator, [George] Nelson, said he wanted me off to accompany him to this house in an

older part of Manila, near the Chinese area.

And there was this beautiful house, very old, behind a wall — a colonial house[...]

All the furniture and all the details in there were so great — these beautiful chairs made

out of mahogany, tables and lamps.

We sat down and had an afternoon coffee with the woman who owned it, and we managed to

make her agree to let us have rooms of furniture.

So there was a real marriage between the dressing and the set itself, because I had seen all

the furniture before.

I think we always felt that that whole French Plantation was not really real, that it was

just imagined — that it had been destroyed and yet preserved” (Cowie 73).

George Nelson, who was in charge of actually dressing the set went around Manila looking

through private art and furniture collections as well as antique shops and flea markets

finding all sorts of unique things like [quote] “game trophies, oil paintings, Persian rugs,

and even a Muslim chest with mother-of-pearl inlays” (Cowie 73).

The set really is amazing looking and because of the way the scene is lit, we don’t even

get to see much of the small details that were included.

In her diary, Eleanor Coppola writes, “All the furniture is upholstered with a different-patterned

fabric, patterned rugs.

A creation of instant clutter, a family living in the same place for a hundred years, sitting

here it looks awful and wonderful.

It will look super in the film.

The camera can only take in a portion of what’s here.

It will make the frame that is photographed look rich.

The camera won’t pass a square foot of blank wall” (Coppola 124).

Coppola looked around the set.

“Antiques,” “old family photographs,” “needlework,” and other details covered

every inch of the space (Zeismer 260).

Coppola turned to assistant director Jerry Zeismer and said, “‘Jerry, look at this

stuff’ [...] as he picked up a tiny silver box and looked at the bottom.

‘It’s made in France!

Look at it!’”

(Zeismer 260).

Coppola held up a framed photo of an old couple in front of a building saying, “Look, Jerry!

[...] Hotel DeVille!

Look!

[...] It’s amazing!

[...] Is all of this unbelievable?”

(Zeismer 260).

In his book Zeismer writes that just then, George Nelson–who had won an Oscar for his

work on The Godfather–came in and added a “tiny silver dish” to a side table (Zeismer

260).

Coppola said, “This is unbelievable!

Everything is great!

[...] What does it cost to get all of this here?

[...] I mean all of it!”

and Nelson responded, “Well, Francis, about $75,000 actually” (Zeismer 260).

Coppola said, “Is that all?

Jerry, all of this set dressing, all of it!

It only cost $75,000!

That’s cheap!”

(Zeismer 260).

Nelson replied, “Oh, no, Francis [...] The $75,000 is to get it here!

That’s what I thought you asked.

That’s the cost of the freight only!

You know, from Paris to Manila!

[...] The cost for all this?

I don’t know, Francis, [...] I don’t think anyone does” (Zeismer 261).

Coppola was shocked.

Despite hiring cheaper actors to help with the budget, the art department didn’t restrain

themselves at all (Travers 137).

The set was extraordinarily beautiful and they had spent a small fortune to get it that

way (Travers 137).

Coppola was very upset saying, “I would have rather had a cheaper set and the actors

I originally was going to have” (Travers 137).

Coppola also had some actors he didn’t even know he had.

Assistant director Jerry Zeismer was told that they didn’t need any extras for the

scene, but Zeismer hid 30 extras “a quarter mile down the road” just in case Coppola

changed his mind (Zeismer 261).

Everyone wanted to please Coppola no matter the cost–after all, he was paying for it.

The special effects teams would prepare more explosions than asked for, 200 extras actually

fired their guns during an unfilmed rehearsal on the Valkyries sequence because no one told

Coppola how much it would cost, and when Coppola mentioned that he wanted a corned beef and

pastrami sandwich on his birthday, they flew in hundreds of pounds from a restaurant in

Beverly Hills to a beach in the Philippines where most of it “rotted in the Philippine

sun” (Zeismer 261).

According to Eleanor, as much as Coppola was amazed by the artistry of the set, he was

feeling angry and trapped by how the scene was developing (Coppola 122).

He obviously couldn’t get all the expensive detail on camera and cinematographer Vittorio

Storaro was aiming to compose the shots and lighting as beautifully as the set.

When Storaro was shooting The Conformist–a movie that takes place during the rise of

fascism in Italy–he knew during the 30s, Paris was supposed to be a place where you

could think freely (NYFF55).

He shot the scenes that take place in Paris during magic hour, the short window of time

when the sun is rising or setting as a way of representing this freedom (NYFF55).

He would take a similar approach on the French plantation sequence, which led to lots of

dark shadows in the scene hiding much of the expensive set.

The lighting in the scene heightens the dream-like quality they were going for and you might

remember from Episode 13 on the Tiger Attack scene that Storaro was beginning to employ

his philosophy of color.

In this case, he felt the orange light represented the warmth of family and as always, the black

shadows represent the unconscious (Writing with Light).

Over the course of the meal, we will see this warmth fade away leaving behind an indigo

sky, which according to Storaro, represents material power (Writing with Light).

Production designer Dean Tavoularis said that they built the set on a promenade and cut

down a lot of trees to get a view of the river, which you could only see during magic hour

(Cowie 73).

Shooting during magic hour further complicated the filming process because they would have

a very limited time to shoot before the light changed.

Coppola decided to shoot the scene the way that has always worked best for him–keep

the cameras rolling, play the scene out completely, and add direction based on his intuition in

the moment (Coppola 122).

This way, the momentum doesn’t wind down for the actors and he can keep his creative

juices flowing (Coppola 122).

Ideally, he will end up with a long scene with lots of ideas that he can then cut “huge

hunks” out of during the editing process and distill it down to its best moments (Coppola

122).

Of course, shooting the scenes long means you are filming a lot of stuff that won’t

end up in the movie, making everything cost more money, and Coppola was on the hook to

pay for everything over the budget himself (Coppola 122).

For instance, when they were shooting the big Playboy show, Coppola had an idea to have

one of the Bunnies sing ‘God Bless America.’

Time was tight so cinematographer Vittorio Storaro a couple of his guys and a sound guy

ran over and they got the shot as quickly as possible (Zeismer 250).

They didn’t end up using it, but that was a decision to be made in the edit.

Coppola told Zeismer, “Look, you never know what's going to work until you get into the

editing room, [...] I like to shoot everything!

Everything!

An eight-hour movie!

Then I edit out all the bad, and what's left is the good.

That's what's the movie.

Only what's left, the good stuff!”

(Zeismer 251).

Hubert shows Willard a plaque that tallies how many people have been killed while attacking

the plantation during the war.

Americans–six?

Yes, well, there were perhaps mistakes.

Roxanne, who we saw on the balcony during Clean’s funeral comes down and sits at the

table.

Roxanne was played by Aurore Clement who had recently appeared in Louis Malle’s Lacombe,

Lucien.

She apparently couldn’t fly out to the Philippines until August 14th because her laundry was

delayed in New York (Cowie 72).

Coppola did his method, but it wasn’t working.

The dinner scene was supposed to take two days, but four days later, he was trying to

figure out what was going wrong.

Eleanor Coppola wrote, “He had the actors do the whole scene in one long piece, over

and over, trying to get a sense of the experience of being at that table as a family, arguing

with each other.

Going through an experience together to produce moments of reality that you don’t get when

you shoot in pieces, two lines at a time.

But it didn’t work.

Francis was really frustrated, because that technique of creating an experience has always

given him some terrific moments and this time it didn’t work” (Coppola 121).

Coppola thought that it might have to do with the language barrier or working with some

non-actors (Coppola 121).

Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro suggested breaking the scene into pieces like how they

had been doing it in Europe–a method that nearly drove Robert DeNiro crazy when Bernardo

Bertolucci shot nearly line-by-line on the movie 1900 and DeNiro had a difficult time

developing the character (Coppola 121).

That way of working is to find the frame first instead of starting with the emotion, so Coppola,

at his wit's end, decided to try shooting the scene in pieces (Coppola 121).

Coppola would wait for the light to be perfect before starting each take.

With the lighting perfect and details like wine being the right temperature, there were

still some problems with the performances–most often in pronunciation (Cowie 74).

Aurore Clement didn’t speak English at this point (Cowie 74).

Clement said, “I remember that [Francis] was teaching me to say one particular line

correctly, and he knelt under the table.

And he took my hand, and he whispered, "Go!

Go!"

And Vittorio Storaro was squatting on the top of the table, behind the camera, shining

a little pocket light at me!”

(Cowie 74).

The same pronunciation issues happened with Marquand and when Coppola would stop and address

the issue, Marquand would always shoot a glance at Tavoularis, the friend who suggested him

for the part (Cowie 74).

Milius: “There was some speech that he gives at the end and he said, you know, ‘if they

drive us from the house, then we will live in a ditch.

And if they push us out of the ditch, we’ll live in the jungle.’

You know, ‘all the time we will clean the blood from our bayonets.’

I like that.”

How long can you possibly stay here?

We’ll stay forever.

Why don’t you go back home to France?

I mean, this is our home, Captain.

Hubert becomes indignant and lists the string of recent French military losses equating

his small piece of land here as something he, as a Frenchman, will never give up.

But here, we don’t lose!

Interestingly, there is a version of the Redux script you can buy that seems to have been

written after the fact because it has stuff like the Sampan scene that was apparently

never written.

There is a part that is left out of that script where the blind uncle says that the Americans

created the Viet Minh after World War II to drive the French out of Indochina.

In actuality, the Americans worked with and helped the Viet Minh in their fight against

the Japanese.

In Coppola’s rewrite, Hubert says that the French own Indochina because they were the

ones who civilized it.

The dinner scene follows a structure where each member of the family says their piece

and then leaves the table–ultimately leaving Willard and Roxanne by themselves.

Philippe brings up Vietnamese intentions to use their white allies, but ultimately remove

all whites from Indochina.

He storms off.

An egg.

The white left.

But they yellow, stay!

Christian hints at the U.S. plan to expand influence in Indochina and possibly Europe.

Lefarve adds some whimsey with his accordion.

The discussion shifts to France's loss in the decisive battle at Dien Bien Phu during

the Indochina War, blaming the communist sympathies of the French government and student protestors

for encouraging France’s loss.

Why don't you Americans learn from us, from our mistakes?

My God, with your army, your strength, your power...you could win if you wanted to!

This scene was filmed only sixteen months after the South Vietnamese capitol of Saigon

fell to the North Vietnamese–ending the war.

There was a similar sentiment among conservatives back in the States that the North Vietnamese

didn’t win the war, the United States lost it because they weren’t allowed to do everything

in their power to win.

This is something that President Regan later flat-out said in a speech.

Reagan: "Let us tell those who fought in that war that we will never again ask young men

to fight and possible die in a war that our government is afraid to let them win.

Hubert and the tutor dispute the French Prime Minister's ideologies during the Indochina

War; Hubert labels him a communist, but the tutor insists he was a socialist.

As the tutor leaves, Claudine aids the blind uncle out of the room while he babbles of

the possibility that the French and Vietnamese can find a way to work together.

Hubert tells Willard that when his family arrived, the Vietnamese had nothing.

His family brought rubber plants from Brazil and planted them in Vietnam and they worked

with the Vietnamese to build something.

“In regions of hostility and misery French civilizers have brought peace, work, prosperity,

and joy.”

The old blind uncle remembers this idea of a camaraderie with the Vietnamese, in his

eyes, partnering to build wealth.

But those seeds of colonialism lead to exploitation, resentment, and ultimately war.

I have to imagine that Coppola made him blind for a reason.

Meanwhile, Hubert’s generation feels like they were stabbed in the back by the Vietnamese

who want independence only after the French brought them some prosperity.

But of course he is ignoring the perspective of the colonized and exploited.

When Hubert says that this fight keeps his family together, Coppola cuts to a wide shot

showing a nearly empty table–the family is not together.

You Americans are fighting for the biggest nothing in history.

Hubert exits, leaving only Willard and Roxanne behind.

In Coppola’s rewrite, the discussion with Hubert is much shorter and when Willard is

alone with Roxanne, she reveals that they know about Colonel Kurtz.

She talks about how Hubert lost his wife and two sons and she lost her husband.

They eventually go to her bedroom upstairs–a set featuring some fancy French furniture

and authentic Vietnamese jewelry (Cowie 73).

They smoke opium to blunt their emotional pain and then Roxanne undresses.

When Clement found out that she would have to do a nude scene, she asked for double her

normal fee (Cowie 72).

They had French actress and wife of Alain Delon, Nathalie Delon on standby for the role,

but Coppola agreed to Clement’s terms assuring her that the nude shots would be more mysterious

and not full-frontal (Cowie 72).

We get this incredible ghostly image of her standing behind the sheer fabric.

On the set, Clement would strike up a friendship with production designer Dean Tavoularis and

remain friends for decades (Cowie 74).

In Coppola’s rewrite, the sequence has a different ending.

There is a part I don’t quite understand where Willard sneaks out of Roxanne’s bed

at night, kills the two men guarding the patrol boat, and brings some supplies back.

But when he wakes up in her bed in the morning, Roxanne tells him that they told the patrol

boat crew that Willard ordered them to give her family a lot of their ammunition.

Shooting the scene was becoming as difficult as any other despite the comfortable and relatively

controlled setting.

The last day, they were scrambling to get a master shot of the scene playing out at

the dinner table (Coppola 122).

By 8pm, they were already two hours over the scheduled day and they were under such a time

crunch that one of the gaffer burned his hand trying to quickly change a light (Coppola

122).

Eleanor noted how bittersweet finishing the scene was with the French actors getting sentimental

having spent the past five days sitting around the same dinner table all day with each other

(Coppola 122).

But Coppola was so frustrated with how everything went that he began to hate the scene.

Coppola: “So I was very incensed, that I had this extraordinary set, this costly set,

extraordinary decorations and stuff, so I just was angry at the French sequence.

I cut it out out of that.”

Coppola: “I was very unhappy on every count–the lights, the whole thing, so everyone forget

that we even shot it.

No longer does it exist.”

The scene was easily eliminated because it was really superfluous to the story of traveling

upriver to Kurtz.

There is nothing in the scene that is needed to make anything after make sense.

Lucas: “Francis works in an intuitive way, so he likes to take advantage of things as

he moves along through a picture.

And Francis just likes it to flow and whenever you do that, you end up with a problem of

having a film, at times, that is way too long and a film that doesn’t have a very strong

kind of line in it that you can keep the audience hooked in.”

Two years later, in 1978, Eleanor saw a screening of a rough cut of the movie and the French

Plantation sequence was missing (Coppola 250).

Six months later, Eleanor got word that the sequence was definitely cut from the movie.

She wrote, “I am one of the people who liked it, but it did stop the flow of Willard’s

journey.

Today I was thinking about all the days of agony Francis went through during the shooting

of that scene.

The hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on the set and the cast flown in from France.

Now the whole thing will end up as a roll of celluloid in a vault somewhere” (Coppola

275).

When people saw the Hearts of Darkness documentary in 1991, it was the first time they had scene

any footage of the sequence, which included some brief excerpts from a finished version

of the scene.

In 2000, editor Walter Murch cut a new version for the Redux release and in 2001, people

finally saw the French Plantation sequence in all its glory.

This episode’s companion pdf features some more information on France’s history with

Vietnam.

It’s just a dollar and really helps the channel.

Or you can support CinemaTyler on Patreon at the five-dollar level and get access to

all of the PDFs I’ve made for this series.

I think because of this, the original workprint version of this scene is so different compared

to the final film than other workprint scenes–almost every angle is different.

I’ll see if I can put the workprint version of the scene on Patreon so you can see it.

You’ve seen their influence over and over again.

Now see who pioneered it all.

Right now, Mubi has a huge collection of 60s Kung Fu movies produced by the legendary Shaw

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The Shaw brothers studio was started all the way back in 1925 after working in opera, which

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You’ve got courage.

They’ve produced around a thousand movies and have had a huge impact on not just Chinese

cinema, but world cinema.

And I just have to say that I just realized that the badass protagonist of Come Drink

With Me played Jade Fox in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, which, when you see the movie,

you’ll know just how clever a casting decision that was for Ang Lee.

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