Full title is Hearts of Darkness A filmmaker’s Apocalypse.
A movie about the making of Apocalypse Now.
Hard to really describe this film.
Apocalypse Now is set in Vietnam and is the story of a man sent to kill a leader who has gone mad. The story is based on the novel Heart of Darkness. A story about a boat captain going down the Congo river to an ivory outpost.
Francis Coppola set out to make this film during the war but was unable to get a green light from any studio. A few years later, after he had directed the first two Godfather movies, he went back to Apocalypse Now. The film was supposed to take 13 weeks and had a budget of 13 million. It ended taking 30 million, over 200 days to shoot and around 3 years to completely finish.
Hearts of Darkness is a documentary about making the movie. In it’s way it is every bit as insane as the movie.
The film starts with the back story of the novel and how Francis Coppola got to the point of heading to the Philippines to shoot this film. It talks about how Harvey Kitel was set to play the leadroll, but was fired after only a few weeks and Martin Sheen was brought in to replace him. Francis Coppola’s wife and their children went with him and she was the one behind most of the documentary.
Some of the most interesting and disturbing aspects of the film include hearing Coppola speaking very opening to his wife. She was recording him without him knowing it. He had a terrible time working on the movie and a startling moment occurs fairly early when he states he has seriously considered shooting himself.
A scene from the beginning of Apocalypse Now involves Martin Sheen’s character Willard drunk in a hotel room. Sheen himself was actually so drunk he could barely stand. He sliced his thumb open without realizing he had done it, and convinced Coppola to keep going. Footage is then shown of Martin Sheen having an alcohol induced breakdown of sorts. Revelations into the real Martin Sheen’s mind. Very disturbing stuff.
Martin Sheen also suffered a heart attack at 36 while filming, he nearly died. There is footage of him being treated. As well as some startling discussions concerning his absence from shooting. He ending up being gone for 5 weeks.
It goes into a great deal more with Marlon Brando, dealing with the logistics of the movie, and dealing with the destruction wrought by a typhoon.
This film is a must see for anyone interested in Apocalypse Now or Film Making in general.
Hearts of Darkness – A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse
