Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper, Eleanor Coppola
A behind the scenes documentary shot on 16mm might seem an odd choice for a lavish 4K restoration, but Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is no mere making-of featurette. Along with Burden of Dreams, it stands atop the canon of documentaries based on notorious film productions. Previous releases could only offer the viewer a facsimile of Eleanor Coppola's remarkable 16mm footage three or four generations removed from the original film elements, but for this version Francis Ford Coppola scanned the original source in 4K. Not only has Hearts of Darkness never looked crisper, but Eleanor's behind the scenes footage looks better than most of today's Hollywood movies. Another key adjustment sees the clips from Apocalypse Now presented in their original 2.23:1 aspect ratio rather than the cropped 4:3 of previous releases of the doc.
When Francis journeyed to the Philippines in early 1976 to begin what would become one of the most infamous location shoots in Hollywood history, Eleanor accompanied her husband (along with the couple's three children - Gio, Roman and Sofia - who would all become filmmakers themselves). She brought a 16mm camera and a tape recorder, and set about documenting an increasingly fraught production. It wasn't until 1990, when Eleanor presented her footage to filmmakers George Hickenlooper and Fax Bahr, that the documentary would begin to take shape. Hickenlooper and Bahr filmed new interviews with both Coppolas, along with the main cast and crew members, and assembled Eleanor's footage into a chronicle of the making of what many consider THE Vietnam movie (I'm a Full Metal Jacket guy myself).
Apocalypse Now was loosely based on Joseph Conrad's novel 'Heart of Darkness'. Prior to making Citizen Kane, Orson Welles tried to get a film adaptation of Conrad's novel off the ground, but the studio balked, considering it too much of an undertaking. Welles instead adapted Conrad's tale as an episode of his Mercury Theater radio series, and Welles' narration from that audio drama serves as a secondary narrator along with Eleanor's journal notes here. Welles' appropriation of Conrad's words effectively spells out the madness of Francis's expedition.
Wanting to create conditions as close to those experienced by his characters, Francis insisted on a location shoot in a jungle. Filipino leader Ferdinand Marcos obliged, lending the production the use of his military, including the helicopters that play a key role in some of the film's most memorable scenes. Trouble was, the choppers were also engaged in fighting communist rebels, and so were often called away in the middle of a shot. Sets were regularly destroyed by monsoon weather. Most of Francis's troubles came from his own cast however. Martin Sheen, a late replacement for Harvey Keitel in the lead role of Willard, was in poor health and suffered a heart attack. Despite having been paid a $1 million advance, Marlon Brando, who would play the enigmatic Colonel Kurtz, made life difficult for Francis by refusing to delay his scenes by a couple of weeks. When Brando arrived in the jungle he further exasperated Francis with his "method" approach to the role. Dennis Hopper was so wasted on booze and drugs that Francis found it near impossible to give him directions. In the doc's most amusing scene we watch a stressed Francis attempt to implore a sozzled Hopper to learn his lines.
At the start of the shoot we see a wide-eyed Francis, a filmmaker on top of the world and likely feeling invincible. By the end he looks as though he could have played Kurtz himself. Without her husband's knowledge, Eleanor taped private conversations in which Francis expressed doubts regarding the quality of his film. Never has a filmmaker's insecurity been captured in such raw fashion. That Francis spent most of his subsequent career working within the cosy confines of studio bound soundstages tells you just how scarred he was the experience of the jungle. That a movie as good as Apocalypse Now came out of the experience we see in Eleanor's footage is a miracle. Unlike his country's military, Francis returned from the jungle victorious.
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is in UK/ROI cinemas from July 4th.