Aux coeurs des ténèbres - l'apocalypse d'un metteur en scène

'Are my methods unsound?' - 'I don't see a method at all, sir.'

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

This fascinating , acclaimed documentary deals with the making of Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece and is largely based on original stock footage filmed by his wife Eleanor , along with Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper who shot recent interviews with cast and crew members . Originally scheduled to be shot over six weeks , ended up taking 16 months , resulting in a Coppola's 40 million dollar great epic vision of the Vietnam war . In 2001 was realized a ¨redux¨ , a new reediting adding footage , the episode of the playmates and the French people encounters , where there's a lot of nudism . This new edition is today considered to be the official version . Considered by some to be the ultimate flick in its overall depiction of chaos , horror , and bloodletting , by others definitively overwrought and unrealistic . This was a splendid film with awe-inspiring battles , stunning photography , effective musical score and compelling montage . The original picture concerned the disillusioned Army captain Willard (Martin Sheen) who tells the story , he is assigned for a special mission : Kill renegade colonel Kurtz (an elephantine Marlon Brando) , American general highly decorated who the army officers believe has gone murderer and nut . His trip is punctuated by surrealist and weird battles and horrifying descent into a land where human rationality seems to have slipped away . Willard joins a misfit crew (Albert Hall , Sam Bottons , Frederic Forest, Larry Fishburne) making a risked and dangerous journey upriver towards Cambodia . Along the way they participate at a superbly coreographed attack by helicopters to the music of ¨Ride of Valkyrie¨ . They'll encounter a mad marine captain , fond of surf (Robert Duvall who gives 10 excellent minutes as a battle-obsessed Major) , as well as playboy bunnies and French military and a civil group (Christian Marquand and Aurore Clement) living lonely at a plantation since Dien Bien Phu defeat (1954) . The travel is dangerously developed until the fateful meeting with Kurtz . Marlon Brando/Colonel Kurtz and Captain Willard /Martin Sheen attempts to assassinate him form the hub of the tale . The perilous journey is narrated as a bizarre odyssey leading to the dreadful and terrible final but when the protagonists meet General Kurtz the scenarios are darkest and gloomiest . As Kurtz cannot be despatched by a weapon bullet , but he has to be hacked to pieces with a machete to symbolise the simultaneous slaughter of a sacrificial bull .

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 .

How lucky can a master filmmaker get when the tide is against you smacking you & your new movie deliberately in the face? Legendary director Francis Ford Coppola certainly knows. This documentary, probably one of the most fascinating & insightful examinations into the craft of filmmaking and the creation of art, chronicles Coppola's three year odyssey filming the surreal Vietnam War epic "Apocalypse Now". Directed & narrated by his wife Eleanor, who accompanied her husband throughout the entire shooting of the film, this is THE most splendid "making-of" documentary I've ever seen. The finished version of "Apocalypse Now" that we've come to know is a strange, mystical journey - which probably evolved out of Coppola's own bizarre experiences while making the film.

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.

Francis Ford Coppola was fond of saying 'Apocalypse Now' was "not about the Vietnam War; it was the Vietnam War", and this long overdue chronicle of the film's troubled production certainly proves his point. Using behind-the-scenes 16mm footage shot by Coppola's wife, Eleanor, and borrowing several passages from her published diaries, the documentary traces how what began as a modest wartime action movie (with nods to Joseph Conrad) would emerge, after several years, several tens of millions of dollars, and more than one physical and mental breakdown, as a brilliant, bloated, visionary epic. The production itself was often a living illustration of Murphy's Law: what could go wrong did go wrong, including a civil war, a devastating typhoon, a near-fatal heart attack suffered by actor Martin Sheen, and the appearance on the set of an unprepared, overweight Marlon Brando to play the emaciated Colonel Kurtz. Among the many revealing moments is Martin Sheen's drunken breakdown on camera (included in Coppola's finished film), and snippets of the fascinating, discreet audiotapes showing the director near the end of his wits. Invaluable hindsight is provided by cast and crew, including Coppola himself, who was never quite able to recover professionally from the experience.

Never in my whole life have I ever watched a documentary that was so detailed down to every last thing and has been so influential and haunting at the same time. What Eleanor Coppola did was make a documentary that showed filmmakers not what to and how to solve the things that go wrong and also not to jump into something without realising it's outcome. What she also did was collect moments on the set and off of the greatest film 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.