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

Released in 1991, "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse" chronicles the making of 1979's "Apocalypse Now," combining footage shot by Eleanor Coppola during the shooting of the film with more recent interviews with the cast & crew.Documentaries or commentaries on how a particular film was made don't interest me because I'm not a filmmaker and only care about the final product. As a writer and former musician I'm familiar with the creative process and understand how some ideas fail to deliver the goods and must be thrown out, etc. As an example, I heard some demos of a couple of my favorite songs and they were lousy compared to the final product and almost ruined my view of those songs. This explains why I'm generally not interested in the harrowing details of how my favorite movies were made and the parts that were thrown out, etc. This documentary is an exception because (1.) "Apocalypse Now" is my all-time favorite movie (the original theatrical version, that is) and (2.) the documentary is just so well-done. In fact, it's fascinating from beginning to end."Hearts of Darkness" shows the monumental problems Coppola and crew encountered in making the movie: The sudden firing of their leading man (Harvey Keitel) after three weeks of shooting and replacing him with Martin Sheen; the delays in filming due to the Philippine Army taking back their rented helicopters to quell an uprising; a hurricane that ruins the sets; Sheen having a heart attack at only 36 years of age and the corresponding delay; overweight Brando arriving to the set totally unprepared and making $1 million a week with an unwritten, improvised ending; the amusing tiger incident; Francis venting in genuine uncertainty at various stages of the creative process, particularly the entire ending; etc.The interviews with cast and crew are also very informative and entertaining, like Frederic Forrest's commentary on the tiger sequence and John Milius' insights on his original screenplay and his encounter with Francis during filming where the latter convinced him that it'd be "the first film to win the Nobel prize." This documentary came out ten years before the "Redux" version of the film was released and, as such, it was the public's first glimpse of various scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor, like the French Plantation sequence and the typhoon-with-the-bunnies sequence. In my opinion, "Redux" is a failure and those scenes should've never been inserted into the movie as very little of the added footage works, but those sequences ARE interesting as deleted scenes or viewing them (in part) in the context of "Hearts of Darkness." For some good laughs, be sure to check out the spoof of this documentary: "Hearts of Hot Shots Part Deux: A Filmmaker's Apology," which was released in 1993 and is available on Youtube in a couple parts.The film runs 96 minutes.GRADE: A

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.

This is probably the best documentary you'll ever see about the process of filmmaking."Hearts of Darkness" documents the disastrous and painful filming of Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. Through interviews with cast and crew members and footage from the actual filming, you get a first-row view of the catastrophes that plagues the production - Marlon Brando's noncooperation, Charlie Sheen's heart attack and alcohol-fueled breakdown, the typhoon that destroyed half the set and equimpent, and more.But more than that you get insight into Francis Ford Coppola's own psyche, and the painstaking process he went through with his last great film, and one he still considers a failure. It's the portrait of a man who allowed himself to become a dictator and a god, and then crashed to complete depression and despair - more than once."Hearts of Darkness" is essential for true film lovers, because it provides real insights into the process and the art of creating a film, and what it meant to be a director in the age of the auteur, when directors were given free rein with their films - and not always for the best.

I've never seen behind-the-scenes documentary filmmaking quite like this, except for something like Werner Herzog's Burden of Dreams, where a nightmarish series of events kept occurring, including a massive monsoon, military unease(the Filipino government for which he worked out a partnership, kept taking helicopters from him during key moments in his movie!), constant re-writes(Coppola was constantly "revamping" John Milius' script), casting issues(the lead had to be changed even though Harvel Keitel's name was printed on the poster advertising the movie!), cast and crew succumbing to numerous crises both physical(Martin Sheen has a heart attack, his role is so incredibly demanding!)and psychological(director Francis Ford Coppola nearly had a nervous breakdown and claims to almost go mad while going through the 200 day process of bringing APOCALYPSE NOW to the screen)and dealing with budgetary problems(Coppola had to put up his own money and house as collateral)as the movie's delay made the media rounds with much scrutiny(one headline read:APOCALYPSE WHEN?). Coppola's wife documented footage, pieced with interviews with the likes of Martin Sheen and Lawrence Fishburne(who was 14 or so when he starred in the movie). Coppola had audio interviews with his wife that she secretly kept for the documentary to elaborate the toll for which the movie was taking on her husband. The heart attack of Sheen really set back Coppola as did Marlon Brando's eccentricities(the way he needed constant discussion with Coppola of the character and script). The most eye-opening moments include the late Dennis Hopper, obviously in a bad state with drugs(his bouts with Coppola are fascinating as it pertains to asking Hopper to commit to a scene with Brando). This film truly shows a man suffering for his art, doing whatever it takes to get it made, even if there were plenty of times where he was more than a bit critical of the work that was being made. The scene where Coppola wants Sheen to reach down to the very lower depths to present a pain his character is going through, the darkness overtaking him and being spilled forth, is startling. Coppola truly gave all that he had for this film and it is presented for us--all the afflictions, wear and tear, that one is burdened with during the movie-making process is shown, honest and open for us to experience.