Hearts of Darkness - A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991)

Finally!

This has to be one of the most anticipated DVD releases of last year. For quite a while, I was trying to find a VHS copy, while hoping that this would finally come out on DVD. We had JACK on DVD, but not this documentary with almost mythical status. But, now it's out, and it's great. I'm not a fan of certain documentary filmmakers (cough...Ken Burns) who try to create drama with filmmaking smoke and mirrors. "Cue music, cue Morgan Freeman or Anthony Hopkins reading a letter, then cut to historian explaining what it all means." I'm much more of a fan of someone like Robert Drew, whose films on JFK allow an almost voyeuristic view into the subject. HEARTS OF DARKNESS has moments that absolutely spellbind you, particularly the scenes with Brando as he basically riffs until stating that he has nothing left to say AND the scene where Martin Sheen basically melts down in front of our eyes as Coppola eggs it on. What makes this so special is that you realize that both the film and the film about the film are rare gems that we may never see again. There will never be another APOCALYPSE NOW--the times and the industry have radically changed. "Just recreate the jungle with CGI." And, there will not be another HEARTS OF DARKNESS. A must-see. May 16, 2008

Hope that a little fat girl in Ohio will be the next Mozart of film.

Destroying professionalism and making it an art form. This is some of the wisdom from Francis Ford Coppola on this documentary made by his wife Eleanor on the making of his film, the godfather of Coppola films in my opinion, Apocalypse Now - The Complete Dossier (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)

The interesting thing about Apocalypse Now is that with probably over 1,000 reviews here on Amazon counting the different versions you could probably get a different interpretation for each review. It's so good and so deep and has so many metaphors that it could mean any number of different things for viewers and nobody would be wrong.

I'm not going to try to analyze this documentary however because you have the people involved with this masterpiece giving their own perspectives on the doc. What I will do is list some things I found interesting in hopes of generating some curiosity for people to see this fascinating work. It made me want to see the film again and read the book Heart of Darkness (Norton Critical Editions) and if you haven't seen Apocalypse Now, as a film lover I envy you.

- Harvey Keitel was originally cast to play Capt. Willard and was fired and replaced for Martin Sheen.

- The part in the hotel room where Capt. Willard is spiraling out of control was just as much Sheen. It was his 36th birthday he was drunk and actually punched and broke the glass mirror and broke down.

- Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack while filming and was actually given his last rights, halting filming for a couple of months.

- Coppola mortgaged his own house and used his own money to make the film.

- The boat going down river and the crew specifically Sam Bottoms character was actually under the influence of drugs while filming most of the time.

- Some filming was shot during a typhoon that killed nearly 200 local people.

- Hearts of Darkness was supposed to be Orson Welles first movie instead he did Citizen Kane when it fell through.

- Some of the script was written and altered by Coppola while filming influenced by his dreams and most of the movie he did not have an ending for.

- A civil war was taking place in parts of the Philippines while shooting and helicopters used for the film from the Philippine govt had to be taken straight out of filming and into battle.

The film really shows you art imitating life.
April 20, 2008

Never get outta the boat

And you thought you had a bad day at the office! Francis Ford Coppola went way up the river (and pretty much around the bend) during the making of "Apocalypse Now", and his wife Eleanor was there to watch (while shooting some of her own footage, and at times, even secretly recording intimate conversations with her hubby). Writer-directors Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper took this raw material and assembled an amazing, intense documentary that takes the viewer about as uncomfortably close to the utter madness of filmmaking as most of us would care to get. Many feel that this film is even better than "Apocalypse" itself. This DVD includes a new documentary about the making of Coppola's recent theatrical release "Youth Without Youth". Gluttons for punishment might consider a double-bill with Les Blank's "Burden of Dreams". February 15, 2008

GREAT. JUST GREAT

Despite its reputation, I'd never gotten a chance to watch this feature until now. The best thing I found about it is that you are able to feel how everybody involved are this close to going completely over the edge. The level of madness in this documentary is truly amazing.
Despite being aware of the final result which is APOCALYPSE NOW itself you'll feel the tension and unease about what will eventually happen and that I think is HEARTS OF DARKNESS triumph. It's a miracle a movie that good came out of this whole situation but for me, the film's weak link is the Brando part and after seeing the level of irresponsibility he showed during filming, it's far from surprising. To Coppola's credit, he made the best from what he had.
I read a review of this DVD and came very close to not buying it due to the suppossed mediocrity of video and audio. All I can say is that it looks exactly the way it should. January 9, 2008

Hearts of Darkness

This documentary is a must-see for the aspiring filmmaker. The viewer learns not only the trials and tribulations of filming a documentary about Vietnam, but also what went on behind the scenes from the smallest detail to the tragic losses during filming to the debut of the film in post-Vietnam America. This will be an integral part of a filmmaker's reference library. December 27, 2007

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