I don't think I should need to watch two extra movies to understand how much work was put into the first one. If it's not apparent from the film... well that's a failing of the film, isn't it.
You can get a good sense of how much work was put into the movie by just watching the Theatrical cut; however, watching the making-of documentary and the alternate version of the movie will lend further insight into the film's troubled production. I'm saying I think AN is a good enough movie to warrant exploring these extended avenues outside of the primary source material if the viewer is interested in learning more about Coppola and what happened with one of his best works.
is when the movie gets really dark and everything starts drifting into madness. Putting a 30 minute dinner with French people in the middle destroys that mood.
Reading this thread, I'm pretty sure I watched the Redux without realizing it first. I can't even remember what was said during the plantation dinner stuff. When they were back on the river I was into the movie again. Was that the major thing added into the film, or were there other scenes?
Unfortunately, this version of the movie has never seen an official release; however, most of the deleted scenes from the home video supplements are sourced from this workprint.
