In 1 9 7 5, director Francis Ford Coppola starts the casting audition for his new planned movie, "Apocalypse Now", written by John Milius. It is about the Vietnam War, so Coppola decides to film it in the jungles of the Philippines, settling there with his wife Eleanor, who records the events, and their three kids, including Sofia and Roman Coppola. Insead of the planned 16 weeks, the filming will drag on for 34 weeks, and will be plagued by problems: a monsoon; a typhoon; the main actor Harvey Keitel is fired and replaced by Martin Sheen, who on the other hand suffers a heart attack; the helicopters are borrowed by the army, but they are sometimes diverted to fight the rebels; the budget skyrockets, and thus Francis has to sell his rights from "The Godfather" to complete the movie. Finally, Marlon Brando threatens to take the million $ and not show up since Francis needs more time to rewrite the ending. Brando does show up, but overweight and bald, and does not listen to Francis, who has to invent a new ending. In spite of all this, "Apocalypse Now" is hailed by the critics and is a hit.
A rare and fascinating documentary on the making of "Apocalypse Now", "Hearts of Darkness" shows it as basically a film depiction of Francis Ford Coppola's own anxiety while trying to achieve his dream, despite all the impossible burdens. Assembled out of archive footage of Francis' wife Eleanor, who filmed the events, it is a remarkable testament to Coppola as a filmmaker: yes, he was crazy and insane for accepting to direct this difficult task in the first place, but one has to grant him huge respect for being one of the last true cineasts who are willing to go through everything just to achieve their artistic vision. Coppola himself points out the imminent flaws in "Apocalypse Now": it is a delirious, psychedelic experience not for everyone's taste, and the anticlimactic ending is simply no good, because Brando's character Kurtz acts as if he came from a different movie that has no relation to the previous events. Nonetheless, similarly like Herzog in "Fitzcarraldo" and "Aguirre", it is engaging just to listen to what Coppola had to go through to get this film done, and he did get it done. And it is surprisingly funny at moments, since some of the dialogues are a riot: "Did you ever consider quitting?” - “How would I quit on myself?” In another sequence, Coppola goes: “If Marty dies, I want to hear that everything is OK, until I say Marty is dead, got it? .... This is the first time I got scared on this movie.“ John Milius recounts a stunning meeting with Coppola during filming: “And they brought me back to bring the script back together... I felt like von Rundstedt going to see Hitler, I was going to be telling him there is no more gasoline on the Eastern Front, and the whole thing would fold, and I came out an hour and a half later and he had convinced me that this was the 1st film that would win the Nobel Prize. And I came out like von Rundstedt: ‘We can win! We don’t need gasoline’!” This sums up Coppola's enthusiasm and sheer energy as an artist, though with a certain toll. As he himself admits near the ending about the chaotic nature of the filming: “...this did contribute to a state of mind that was like Kurtz’s.” Certainly a wild ride, and an engaging experience that should be seen by anyone who wants to appreciate movies and the unsung heroes behind the scenes.
Grade:+++
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