La lavorazione di "Apocalypse Now" (1979) di Francis Ford Coppola e le sue ambivalenze: sceneggiatura straordinaria, riprese stancanti ed interminabili, cast importante ma set sempre sull'or... Leggi tuttoLa lavorazione di "Apocalypse Now" (1979) di Francis Ford Coppola e le sue ambivalenze: sceneggiatura straordinaria, riprese stancanti ed interminabili, cast importante ma set sempre sull'orlo del collasso.La lavorazione di "Apocalypse Now" (1979) di Francis Ford Coppola e le sue ambivalenze: sceneggiatura straordinaria, riprese stancanti ed interminabili, cast importante ma set sempre sull'orlo del collasso.
- Regia
- Sceneggiatura
- Star
- Vincitore di 2 Primetime Emmy
- 8 vittorie e 5 candidature totali
- Self
- (filmato d'archivio)
- (non citato nei titoli originali)
- Self
- (as Francis Coppola)
- Self
- (as Larry Fishburne)
- Self
- (filmato d'archivio)
- Self
- (filmato d'archivio)
- Self
- (as Fred Forrest)
Recensioni in evidenza
It is a stunning , riveting and absorbing documentary that is based on the known film that was inspired by Joseph Conrad's novella : ¨The heart of the darkness¨ and it goes on to be subject of debate . At once anecdotal and revealing , this top-notch picture shows the catastrophes that beset this particular project , and by way of comparison describes exactly what American film has foregone since the seventies . Both Martin Sheen and Coppola suffered emotional breakdown during the overlong shooting , as Martin Sheen had a heart attack during the filming and some shots of Willard's back are of doubles , including Sheen's brother Joe Estevez who was flown out specially . The documentary lists a catalogue of disasters : Sheen's stroke , problems with weather , including thunderous thypoons , and the Filipino goverment ruled by dictator Ferdinand Marcos who took the helicopters to wage war the communist guerrilla , massive over-expenditure , the upsettling actors , specially : Sam Bottoms and Dennis Hopper , spaced out whatever drugs were availble and an overweight Marlon Brando refusing to perform a fat role . Regarding the movie Coppola told the following : ¨It was a crazy , we had access to too much money and too much equipment , and little by little we went insane¨. This documentary is entirely in agreement with this verdict . There are several interviews to actors and crew , as Martin Sheen , Albert Hall , Dennis Hopper , Frederic Forest 15-year-old Larry Fishburne , Production designer Dean Tavoularis , producer Fred Roos , the great photographer Vittorio Storaro , and the screenwriter John Milius himself who explains the movie tackles issues of ethics and morality and the horror war . And cameraman Vittorio Storaro who carried out a spellbound and breathtaking cinematography , he won an Oscar , a very well deserved Academy Award . The movie in spite of the passed time is still powerful and astounding . The documentary was perfectly directed by Eleanor Coppola , pacing with great sensitivity and artistic ambition . Coppola's wife along with Fax Bahr and George Wickenlooper assembled from later interviews from some 60 hours of footage filmed on location in the Philippines , much of it by Eleanor .
Most of these strange occurrences on the set of "Apocalypse Now" served to hinder the completion of the film. The fact that such a brilliant film was even salvaged from the wreckage that was Coppola's life at the time is a miracle, but the film also serves as a testament to the genius of Coppola that was already established with the massive success of the first two "Godfather" films. Plagued by constant typhoons, a mercurial Marlon Brando, an unreliable Phillipine army, a cast of actors whacked out on drugs & alcohol (especially the maniacal Dennis Hopper), endless financial woes, and Coppola's own self-doubt & inner demons ("I don't have the movie yet!"), there is no surprise in the eventual photo shown of an exhausted Coppola standing on the set of his film in a damp raincoat, pointing a revolver at his own head. This may be an experience other directors have experienced (many David Lean films were logistical nightmares), but how many directors can testify to enduring these types of repeated misadventures for three years, and still manage to find the light at the end of the tunnel?
The entire cast is interviewed (years afterward) about the making of the film - except, of course, for Marlon Brando (Larry Fishburne doesn't get much screen time in the documentary, but his character was relatively small anyway). Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper, and Frederic Forrest provide the most insight. Sheen & Hopper seem particularly direct at disclosing the grim nature of their excessive drinking at the time. Actors Robert Duvall, Sam Bottoms, Albert Hall, co-screenwriter John Milius, and the Coppolas themselves also reflect back on the construction of the film. The film is loaded with deleted scenes, extended takes, and much behind-the-scenes footage (Coppola angrily berates a stoned Dennis Hopper for forgetting his lines). Eleanor Coppola must really love her husband, because it takes a strong person to document - on film, nonetheless - three years worth of strife & turmoil as you watch your spouse in their craft, fearful they are creating the genesis of their own demise as an artist. A powerful, absorbing documentary on the creation of one of the greatest films ever made.
I have always made that known when reviewing a lot of films on IMDB how much this film means to me and when you watch Heart of Darkness without flickering an eyelid you kind of find out why. At the beginning of the documentary you see Francis ford Coppola talking about Apocalypse Now at a press conference and he says the famous line `The film wasn't about Vietnam, it was Vietnam' and after hearing it you are thinking what the hell is this guy on about and then you watch it and you think to yourself `Oh he was probably right bless him' because no one apart from the cast and crew knew what he really meant. Then you watch the documentary and you eat your words because we see how much pressure he was under and Brando and Martin Sheen's heart attack didn't help but he pulls through. It was like he made a pack with the devil for his film to be an absolute nightmare to make but for the final outcome to become a glorified Masterpiece which is what it is.
To see what had happened when filming stopped in the jungle with the tribe and the footage of the cow's and pigs being slaughtered to death was extraordinary and disturbing that this really happens. In the scene where the cow or bull (I don't know) gets hacked into pieces is well known for being real but it was well constructed before Francis said `action' but on the documentary you see a number of men just go up to the animal and do what they have to do. It' really sinks in when looking at that part what kind of film Apocalypse Now is. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of Brando but I think it's good that we don't because it just like the film in that respect that even in a documentary he continues to be secluded from the rest and kept in the dark. Francis Ford Coppola was wasted after making Apocalypse now. Never will Hollywood not even Peter Jackson ever see a director like Francis because films like Apocalypse Now will probably never be made again because of the financial side of the business but Coppola was beyond a director, he was a master that had no hold on itself and without his belief and madness we wouldn't be blessed with this outstanding film. It's not a point that I am making it's a fact and it destroys me to think there is nobody challenging the ways he did anymore, but in a way I like it like that.
Hearts of darkness: a filmmaker's apocalypse has become the mother of all making-of documentaries. At least that's what Coppola had in mind. I guess every making-of ever made wanted to be something like Hearts has accomplished. Problems in production, actors, story, editing, financing and directing are revealed. However, not much attention is paid to the actual adaptation of the original story and the difference in vision that was obviously there. The trouble surrounding Apocalypse Now as presented in this documentary makes you wonder how on earth Apocalypse Now was actually released at all. On the other hand that might just be exploitation of a supposedly disastrous production, like the trouble with 'The African Queen' (Huston, 1951). In that case, it would mean Coppola created a legend out of some futile problems to emphasize that you HAVE to see the final product.
Nevertheless his film IS spectacular. The helicopter action in Black Hawk Down can't top the impact of the lauded Huey-attack. And Apo features one of the greatest scores and (awardwinning) sound designs in history of cinema. With the emphasis on lunacy and despair in the form of surrealist cacophony. I would have liked to hear some more in this docu about the sound design that was as revolutionary as that of 'the Right Stuff' and 'Star Wars'. I really couldn't say that we were all tricked into pretensions and reputation-building (which IS the case with Vertigo if you ask me) for commercial purposes.
Almost forty years after Orson Welles wanted to make his first film out of Joseph Conrad's book 'Heart of Darkness' (yes, that's 3 years before Citizen Kane), Coppola started to create his own loose adaptation of the book. In this documentary is even an excerpt of Welles' 1938-radio adaptation of Heart of Darkness. I hope it will come with the docu when it is released on dvd (will it ever?).
Apo was supposed to be a sort of journey of a man into the past (hence the newly restored scene on the french plantage), almost maybe like Bergman's Wild Strawberries, but only the form and the surrealism, not the content of course. But if we may believe this docu, the production resembled just as much turmoil as the lunacy in the story itself. The French plantage (with french actress Aurore Clément ('Paris, Texas')) illustrates the fifties: the idea of the French still being in the forest and representing the fifties politics. Coppola elucidates why he initially shot and later cut out the scene. Fortunately it would later be presented to the world in the 'Redux' version. The story of Apo was supposed to take us back in time, to re-live Kurtz' adventure. Maybe even like the extraordinary 'Paris, Texas' (Wenders, 1984) that in content is also a journey into the past of a man.
For most people, this docu will be a delight just to see behind the scenes footage, because they don't see they're being manipulated by the actual SELECTION of footage and mutilation of interviews. It's very entertaining, but ultimately some points do not convince. How can the director of 'the Godfather 1+2' and 'the Conversation' let a production get out of hand like the way it's presented in 'Hearts'? And, the real heart of the concept isn't really touched by any of the interviewees. But, as an admirer of Apo, I say it's a must see, not only for the background stories (Welles), the problems created by actors (Sheen's attack, Brando's corpulence) and the lunacy on the set itself (idiodyssey?), but also to hear Francis Ford Coppola say that the film will not be good and a 20 million dollar disaster, while it was becoming the greatest warmovie ever made (right behind Catch-22 ;-). And for that, mr and mrs Coppola, I salute you. 9/10
Lo sapevi?
- QuizMarlon Brando allegedly refused to be interviewed, claiming Francis Ford Coppola still owed him $2 million following his time on the movie.
- BlooperThe narrator refers to a caribou being killed. The animal is actually a carabao.
- Citazioni
Francis Ford Coppola: My greatest fear is to make a really shitty, embarrassing, pompous film on an important subject, and I am doing it. And I confront it. I acknowledge, I will tell you right straight from... the most sincere depths of my heart, the film will not be good.
- Versioni alternativeThe DVD is missing a mention of Harvey Keitel as Willard and a scene of Coppola singing Anything Goes is watered down as well.
- Colonne sonoreSuzie Q
Written by Dale Hawkins, Sagan Lewis (as S.J. Lewis) and Eleanor Broadwater (as E. Broadwater)
Performed by Flash Cadillac (as Flash Cadilac)
Courtesy of Private Stock Records
I più visti
- How long is Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse?Powered by Alexa
Dettagli
- Data di uscita
- Paese di origine
- Sito ufficiale
- Lingua
- Celebre anche come
- Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
- Luoghi delle riprese
- Aziende produttrici
- Vedi altri crediti dell’azienda su IMDbPro
Botteghino
- Lordo Stati Uniti e Canada
- 1.318.449 USD
- Fine settimana di apertura Stati Uniti e Canada
- 42.992 USD
- 1 dic 1991
- Lordo in tutto il mondo
- 1.330.973 USD
- Tempo di esecuzione
- 1h 36min(96 min)
- Colore
- Mix di suoni
- Proporzioni
- 1.37 : 1