SnoopyStyle
In 1976 Philippines, Francis Ford Coppola would risk everything to make 'Apocalypse Now'. It's an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' to the world of the Vietnam War. The budget explodes and principal photography gets extended to 238 days. His wife Eleanor joins him filming the behind the scenes. Coppola replaces his lead Harvey Keitel. The military's help would often be diverted to fight the rebels. Martin Sheen has a heart attack. The big French section is unworkable. A typhoon destroys the production. It is absolute madness as the production becomes its own Vietnam. This is definitely not a standard production. It is a compelling watch for any film lover. It is one of the best behind-the-scenes film and should be seen as a companion piece to Apocalypse Now.
CinemaClown
Almost as powerfully haunting, profoundly disturbing & incredibly harrowing an experience as the motion picture whose troubled production it brings to life on the silver screen, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse validates the claim that notable director Francis Ford Coppola made about his 1979 feature, that his film wasn't about Vietnam... it was Vietnam.Deriving its name from Joseph Conrad's novella on which Apocalypse Now is based upon, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse covers the behind-the-scenes production work of Coppola's final masterpiece, chronicles the countless problems the project kept running into, and also captures the extremity its entire cast & crew were pushed to during its filming in the Philippines.Co-directed by George Hickenlooper & Fax Bahr, who used the footage that was filmed & later provided to them by Coppola's wife, Eleanor, this documentary is highly gripping from the first frame to the last and while it's not an easy sit, it's too difficult to take your eyes off the screen because it all looks so surreal. Everyone knew on paper about the troubles Apocalypse Now was going through yet it's through the Hearts of Darkness that we get our first look at just how nightmarish everything actually was.Brilliantly narrated by Eleanor Coppola, Hearts of Darkness opens with Francis Ford Coppola uttering the now iconic quotes about his harrowing experience of shooting his picture during its premiere at 1979 Cannes Film Festival, which is then followed by the depiction of each n every encountered problem, starting with the replacement of the lead actor within days into principal photography and concluding with Coppola arriving at the feature's premiere, where it is quite evident that he's not the same person anymore.It's actually upsetting to see the visionary filmmaker who had two of the greatest films ever made to his name reduced to a person who was contemplating suicide. Apocalypse Now hit Coppola the hardest for it planted the seed of self-doubt in his mind, drove him to the point of insanity, and with all the costly sets getting destroyed due to bad weather, actor's health issues, the continuously inflating budget & other things, it's no surprise that it eventually took such a toll on him that he still hasn't fully recovered from it.It's a soul-crushing moment when a clear ambition is marred by aggravating circumstances which is what happened in that film's case as Coppola himself got the first-hand experience of what he intended to capture with his picture; a descent into primal madness. But what eventually came out from the abyss is a cinema that has horror written all over it and while it can be disputed, it's difficult to imagine that Apocalypse Now would've been the same film if everything that did go wrong during its production hadn't actually gone wrong.Hearts of Darkness is methodically paced from start to finish and there's a very natural flow to how all the events unfold on the screen. Coppola's weight fluctuations, Martin Sheen's drunk acting, his heart attack, weather playing spoilsport, government not fully cooperating, production running over budget & over schedule, Coppola having no proper ending in sight, Marlon Brando bringing an all new sets of problems, all this & other interviews are infused into this documentary in a manner that makes it an enlightening, entertaining & informative experience.On an overall scale, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is regarded by many as the finest documentary ever made and of all the documentaries that I've seen so far, it's the best. It has the same vibe of the deranged classic whose highly frustrating production it chronicles, is tightly structured & cleverly paced throughout its runtime which makes its content all the more engaging & intriguing, and is absolutely unflinching in shedding light on the life-changing impact it had on several members of its cast n crew, most notably Francis Ford Coppola. A must supplement for everyone who's seen Apocalypse Now, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse comes strongly recommended.
Red_Identity
This definitely seems to stem some of the same themes Apocalypse Now does, and I honestly think that it's better. It's more focused, better paced, not as pretentious, and it makes sense. The themes of obsession and art hit harder and seem to be fleshed out more fully, and developed well. Of course, since it's real life, one can say it happened by accident, but my point still remains. Seeing just how high these actors were was really shocking (especially Dennis Hopper, oh boy). I think it could have hit even more greatness had it tapped into this more, but alas, this is a very good film that I'm sure anyone can really enjoy for what it is.
