Hearts of Darkness - A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
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Actor: Francis Ford CoppolaBrand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-11-20
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of Hearts of Darkness - A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
DVD Review: Superb
Summary: 5 Stars
I just saw this documentary for the second time and remain as enchanted by it as ever. Francis Ford Coppola's wife Eleanor is responsible for much of the footage and it's a combination of interviews from 1975-76 and those from 1990. It fills in many blanks that will fascinate fans of Apocalypse Now. The interviews with Martin Sheen were superb as was the discussion of the peculiarities (and blatant irresponsibility) of Marlon Brando. The unkempt and passionate Coppola was something to see on the original set, and I had no idea the types of chances he took in the hopes of getting his film made. Also of interest, was the method by which the John Milius's original script was synced with the vision of Coppola. This documentary provides viewers with great inside baseball and may even appeal to those who haven't seen Apocalypse Now.
DVD Review: Solid
Summary: 3 Stars
Hearts Of Darkness glosses over one of the more important aspects of the film's creation, the hiring and firing of the first actor, Harvey Keitel, to portray Lt. Willard. We are simply told it was not working, and cut to Francis's hiring of Martin Sheen. But, we never see any of the footage shot with Keitel, we never learn if he was simply too different from Francis's vision of Willard to work, or was he simply doing a poor job, a malcontent, or clashing too frequently with Francis. For a so-called documentary to leave such wide open says much of the aims of the documentarian, in this case Eleanor. Also left open-ended is a much talked about aspect of the filming that the documentary does not cover, and that is Francis's infidelity on the set, and how that contributed to the distance between the couple. How this affected Eleanor's documentary, much less Apocalypse Now, is certainly ripe for discussion. This is the rare instance where such is not mere gossip for gossip's sake, but pertinent information about the director's state of mind in the improvisatory aspects of the film. Was his film more gloomy because of the infidelity's consequences? Hearts Of Darkness does a great disservice to its viewers by totally avoiding such questions, even as it claims a rare intimacy, due to Eleanor's claim to have surreptitiously recorded conversations without Francis's knowledge.
Overall, the DVD package is barely worth an investment, especially if a Coppola fan, but once again the studio that put out the DVD could have offered so much more for so little an investment. Hearts Of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is a good and worthwhile 'Making Of' feature for a DVD release, but, as a stand alone documentary, it is rather lacking. Thus, with two making of documentaries, and no real feature, the package is saved by the aforementioned pluses alone. Better than nothing, but most viewers will wind up asking, 'Well, that's it?'
'Tis.
DVD Review: A NECESSARY COMPANION TO APOCAPLYPSE NOW
Summary: 5 Stars
If you're a fan of Apocalypse Now, this DVD is a necessary purchase. It gives essential insight into the creative process and bedraggled production of one of the greatest films of the 20th Century. The interviews are sometimes intense, some of them with cast members describing their surrealistic experience on the movie, many with a frantic, enraged Coppola (not aware of himself being taped), grabbing for a branch on the shore as the river hurtles him downstream towards an ending he hasn't even written yet. It's a story every bit as gripping as the movie itself.DVD Review: If You Loved the Movie, you'll like this film
Summary: 3 Stars
Where do I begin?!? What sort of focus can I create out of the chaos?!? How important is it to convey my concepts in an intelligble manner?!? How do I create the proper flow of ideas?!? Wait...isn't t that what "The Heart of Darkness" about?
This film documents a man with a wish to bring Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" to the screen while bringing it up to date and satisfying a generation by making the War in Viet Nam his allegory. The only real problem with the production of "Apocalypse Now" seems to be the man behind the project. Francis Ford Coppola, coming off his well-deserved reputation from directing "The Godfather" and "The Godfather II" set out to make "Apocalypse Now" well before he was prepared to. His artistic concepts seemed well-thought out but his inability to convey them to his chosen cast left him throwing out scenes because the actors just didn't get the idea. Well, whose fault is that? We get "tragic" stories about monsoons (What! In the Phillipines?!!!?), temporary losses of essential equiptment, unexplained cast changes, and many other causes of unfortold delays and cost over-runs. This is the stuff of which comedies are made. "Day for Night" is a great example of a movie made about making a movie. It suceeds because the director is able to touch the audience with joy and sorrow while involving us with the characters. "The Heart of Darkness" could be subtitled "My Husband is a Genius and I Want to Show You Why All That @#%&## You Read about the Making of 'Apocalypse Now' is not His Fault".
I rented this movie solely because I saw it listed on the "NY Times 1000 Best Movies" (or something like that). This movie should not even make the top 10,000. I see, from the overwhelmingly favorable reviews, that many others would agree that "The Heart of Darkness" is a great film. My guess is that they were of the opinion that "Apocalypse Now" was one of the great movies of all time and they just can't get enough of it or anything about it. To me, nothing else makes sense. Hopefully it is not too late for Mrs. Michael Cimino to produce a movie on her husband's creation of "Heaven's Gate".
DVD Review: A small dissent
Summary: 4 Stars
Like the other reviewers, I found this documentary to be fascinating. If you are a Coppola fan, it's a can't miss. That said, I have a couple of caveats to the unconditional raves given by other reviewers: First, if you already have the VHS version, the DVD "extras" are pretty weak (of course, if you no longer have a VHS player, you may want to pick up a copy of the DVD anyway). The "Coda" is actually about Francis's recent film "Youth without Youth," not about looking back on the making of "Apocalypse, Now" from the present. A good chunk of this short documentary consists of Francis reclining in bed pontificating about what turned out to be a pretty weak film. Both Francis and Eleanor Coppola (Francis's wife) provide commentaries on "Hearts of Darkness" - the commentaries are mixed together, although recorded separately. Unfortunately, neither commentary is very interesting. Francis apparently contributed his mainly so he could assert multiple times that the unfavorable press he received while filming "Apocalypse, Now" was unfair. He argues that he should have been seen as an artist risking his own money following a dream, rather than a filmmaker descending into psychosis. Fair enough, but he didn't need to keep repeating the point, and after all these years with the film having turned out to be a huge critical and commercial success, why does he still care what the trade papers were writing about him 30 years ago? In addition, the commentaries are pretty skimpy; there are long sections where the film plays with no commentary. Francis passes on the opportunity to provide additional insight into such things as the replacement of Harvey Keitel with Martin Sheen during the early days of filming. Second, although this documentary relied heavily on film shot by Eleanor during the making of "Apocalypse, Now," she wasn't actually the director - Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper were. Apparently, they were responsible for the interviews with all of the film's stars - except Brando, who refused to participate. As far as I could tell, the two directors don't seem to receive credit on the commentary track.
So, certainly worth picking up if you haven't seen it before. But not a DVD to buy for the extras.
Description of Hearts of Darkness - A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is an engrossing, unwavering look back at Francis Ford Coppola's chaotic, catastrophe-plagued Vietnam production, Apocalypse Now. Filled with juicy gossip and a wonderful behind-the-scenes look at the stressful world of moviemaking, the documentary mixes on-location home movies shot in the Philippines by Eleanor Coppola, the director's wife, with revealing interviews with the cast and crew, shot 10 years later.Hearts of Darkness is an engrossing, unwavering look back at Francis Coppola's chaotic, catastrophe-plagued Vietnam production, Apocalypse Now. Filled with juicy gossip and a wonderful behind-the-scenes look at the stressful world of moviemaking, the documentary mixes on-location home movies shot in the Philippines by Eleanor Coppola, the director's wife, with revealing interviews with the cast and crew, shot 10 years later. Similar to Burden of Dreams, Les Blank's absorbing portrait of Werner Herzog's struggle to make Fitzcarraldo, the film chronicles Coppola's eventual decent into obsessive psychosis as everything that could go wrong does go wrong. Storms destroy sets, money evaporates, the Philippine government continually harasses the director, Coppola has romantic affairs, and he can't write the story's ending. Everything is captured on film. In the most disturbing scene, we watch Martin Sheen have a drunken nervous breakdown while his director goads him on (he eventually suffered a heart attack, but finished the film).
Other incredible footage is not visual, but aural as the film includes tapes Eleanor Coppola recorded without Francis's knowledge. In them, he truly sounds like a madman as he confesses his fears about making a bomb of a movie. But while Hearts of Darkness is an amazing, voyeuristic experience, its importance lies in the personal reflections offered by those involved. Sheen, Coppola, and Dennis Hopper speak frankly without embarrassment, offering us an essential piece of film history. --Dave McCoy
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