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Hearts of Darkness - A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
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Additional DVD options | Edition | Discs | Price | New from | Used from |
DVD
November 20, 2007 "Please retry" | — | 1 | $31.99 | — | $21.91 |
Watch Instantly with | Rent | Buy |
Format | NTSC |
Contributor | Francis Ford Coppola |
Language | English |
Runtime | 1 hour and 36 minutes |
Studio | Paramount |
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Product Description
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmakers Apocalypse is an engrossing, unwavering look back at Francis Ford Coppolas 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 directors wife, with revealing interviews with the cast and crew, shot 10 years later.
Product details
- Aspect Ratio : 1.33:1
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : R (Restricted)
- Product Dimensions : 5.38 x 0.38 x 7.5 inches; 10.4 ounces
- Media Format : NTSC
- Run time : 1 hour and 36 minutes
- Release date : November 20, 2007
- Actors : Francis Ford Coppola
- Subtitles: : English, French, Spanish
- Language : English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), Unqualified
- Studio : Paramount
- ASIN : B000XECFXS
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #26,933 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #17,311 in DVD
- Customer Reviews:
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Friction is the difference between real war and war on paper, he says. It is the difference between the plans drawn up by political and military leadership and what actually happens on the battlefield.
The concept of friction, however, is applicable to any sort of planning exercise. We've all planned events or projects that sounded great on paper, but once we began carrying them out, we realized it wasn't at all as we had initially hoped. Remodeling a kitchen that went from being a summer project has now crept into Christmas time. Or perhaps a project at work that ended up costing much more than originally anticipated. Friction is all those little unforeseen delays, costs, and obstacles that impact the timeliness, price tag, and overall quality of a project or an event.
The practical implication of friction was beautifully illustrated in the film, Hearts of Darkness: a Filmmaker's Apocalypse, which documents the filming and production of Director Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. It shows how Coppola went into the filming of the project with such high hopes, but so many unforeseen variables, many of which were out of his control, ended up almost wrecking the project and ruining Coppola.
The filming of Apocalypse Now took place in the Philippines, which at the time was engaged in a civil war. Coppola was renting helicopters from the Philippine government for one of the most famous scenes in the film. However, filming was often interrupted because the government would take a few of the helicopters back to fight the rebels. Martin Sheen, who played Captain Willard, the film's main protagonist, had a heart attack midway through the filming and needed several weeks to recover. Typhoon Olga came through and destroyed much of the set and forced the closing of production. And finally, Marlon Brando, earning a then-unprecedented $1M a week, arrived on set much overweight, not prepared, and unhappy about the ending. The film ended up being $30M over budget and four times over schedule. In a recorded phone conversation with his wife, Coppola confessed that he no idea what he was doing and even contemplated suicide.
In the end, Coppola successfully managed the immense friction of the production. Apocalypse Now is arguably the best Vietnam War movie ever made and the film is one of the best in history.
But how did Coppola pull this off? How did he overcome the insurmountable obstacles that were thrown at him and create a masterpiece? In other words, as Clausewitz asks, "Is there any lubricant that will reduce this abrasion?" He immediately answers: "Only one, and a commander and his army will not always have it readily available: combat experience... Habit hardens the body for great exertions, strengthens the heart in great peril, and fortifies judgment against first impressions. Habit breeds that priceless quality, calm, which... will lighten the commander's task."
Clausewitz believes, thus, that experience is what reduces friction. Experience is what instills a sense of realism into the outlook of an initiative. An experienced leader understands that there will be problems that crop up and add delays and increase costs of the project. Experience teaches him to not get ruffled by these problems and to take the unexpected in stride. Experienced leaders not only maintain an even keel when the unforeseen hits, but also use it to their advantage through natural gestures and improvised courses of action. The friction forces them to be innovation and creative.
By the time of the filming of Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola already had several Academy Awards under his belt. He won Best Picture and Best Director Awards for The Godfather and The Godfather Part II; two other films he directed and produced, The Conversation and American Graffiti, respectively, were nominated for Best Picture; and he had won three Best Screenplay Awards. Coppola had begun his film career 17 years earlier and was, at the time, at the peak of his career. Needless to say he was an experienced film director.
In The Hearts of Darkness, you get to see how such an experienced professional and leader handles the immense friction that happened in the production of Apocalypse Now. He improvised the entire beginning scene when Martin Sheen, who at the time was very drunk from a birthday celebration, punches the mirror in his hotel room in Saigon. He worked around Marlon Brando's weight by dressing him in all black and only shooting him in the dark. And lastly, he worked the torrential downpour from the tropical storm - it rained for many days straight - into the shooting. I couldn't imagine the film without these improvisations!
Only a director of Coppola's experience and will power could have managed the magnitude of friction that was inherent in the production of Apocalypse Now and successfully turn it into one of the best films of all-time (and even he almost failed).
I also love Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (Hearts of Darkness) and cannot understand how so many people are commenting on Apocalypse Now Redux and yet have not watched Hearts of Darkness. For example one reviewer who gave the original movie 5 star asks
“I wonder why Coppola deleted the French Plantation scene from the original movie?
One important aspect of Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse is that there is Commentary to the Commentary. Blink and you will miss it. That is Eleanor Coppola actually comment on the documentary. Fans of Francis will get an important insight into the man. For example, he is to this day “embarrassed” about certain scenes in Apocalypse Now. We are not directly told which scenes but Eleanor hints at which ones.
Like some reviewers, I remember the original release of Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse as being longer and more in depth. Eleanor Coppola answers this by saying that she did not want to embarrass Martin Sheen (Captain Willard) about his real heart attack and there was more discussion about narcotics. I agree with Eleanor as she says talking about drugs detracts from the documentary.
I think it’s fantastic that a documentary exists on possibly (and I highlight possibly) the greatest movie made. I could not believe it when I heard in 1991 that Hearts of Darkness existed, Eleanor goes on to say that people like myself, people in the early teens when Apocalypse Now a released in 1979 urger her and Francis to release Hearts of Darkness.
John Milius: wrote part of the script. ALL the parts concerning John Milius are extremely humorous, especially, his preferred ending where …… this rime I will NOT spoil this scene. You have to watch it to believe and the fact that George Lucas was initially going to film it. Wow ….
The documentary ends with Francis reflecting on movie making and says words to these effect a“ .. a fat girl from Ohio” will probably beat a well-known director/cinematographer by using a hand held camera.
Francis does not have to worry for the following reasons:
• Apocalypse Now will never be re-made, OR, more importantly have a sequel
• The cinematography is so beautiful and perfect that CGI cannot duplicate or replace it
• Labour Of Love: Apocalypse Now was such a personal labour of love for Francis that no studio to this day would allow a director that much autonomy. (Francis suffered greatly due to Apocalypse Now and his other hit Dracula 11-12 years later was filmed indoors on massive studio lots and sound stages)
Once again if you are a hard core fan, there is so much in Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse that a 7,000 word review would not do it justice AND hopefully clarifies the three points above. There are interviews with all the actors. You will laugh out loud at the parts that contain Dennis Hopper and Marlon Brando. Perseverance. The one thing that I learned from the documentary and the movie Apocalypse Now is persevere until the end. All fans owe it Francis who put everything on the line … admits he was frightened …. to bring us the timeless masterpiece,
Apocalypse Now.
Top reviews from other countries
Tenía muchos años buscando el DVD, por lo que me dió mucho gusto conseguirlo a buen precio y con excelente calidad tanto de imagen como de sonido.
Valió la pena la espera.
Selten war man so nah dabei, wenn ein filmisches Genie fast an sich selbst scheitert. Eleanor Coppola hat rund um den Dreh von -Apocalypse Now- eine fantastische Dokumentation abgedreht. Da passt es am Ende, dass sich Schauspieler dazu bekennen, während der meisten Szenen schwer unter Drogeneinfluss gestanden zu haben. Der Rückblick auf das Darstellergenie Brando erlebt man dann eher auch mit gemischten Gefühlen. Was für eine Diva! Nebenbei gibt es jede Menge Wissenswertes zu erfahren. Ich wusste zum Beispiel nicht, dass sich Orson Welles schon an einer Verfilmung des berühmten Joseph Conrads Romanes versucht hatte und gescheitert war.
Eleanor Coppolas Dokumentation und die Rückblicke auf die Dreharbeiten stammen aus dem Jahr 1991. Seitdem hat sich im Medium Film einiges verändert. Ein Dreh wie dieser ist heute unvorstellbar. Wie sagte Coppola seinerzeit so schön: "Jetzt gibt es diese wunderbaren kleinen 8 Millimeter Kameras und Film kann endlich zur Kunstform werden, weil nicht mehr die aufwändige materielle Produktion dahinter steht. Vielleicht wird dann ein kleines, dickes Mädchen einen Film drehen und der nächste Mozart werden. Das wäre schön." Kann man so sehen, ganz sicher. Bei -Apocalypse Now- sah das komplett anders aus. Wie dort ein hoch ausgezeichneter Starregisseur seine Grenzen weit überschreitet, das ist in -Heart of Darkness- atemberaubend gut zu betrachten...