Rent Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991)
4.0 of 5 from 120 ratings
1h 32min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
In the late seventies celebrated director Francis Ford Coppola and his cast and crew ventured into the dense jungles of the Philippines to begin work on what would eventually become his masterpiece, "Apocalypse Now". But the journey from page to screen soon spiralled into a hellish, life-threatening nightmare that echoed the film's narrative. Plagued with adversity, one of the most influential films ever made had one of the most notorious shoots in cinema history that few survived unscathed. Compiled from rare on set footage filmed by Coppola's wife Eleanor and interviews with the cast, "Hearts of Darkness" is the ultimate feature-length documentary, capturing the explosive events that lead to "Apocalypse Now" becoming an acknowledged classic. - Actors:
- Dennis Hopper, Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Francis Ford Coppola, Eleanor Coppola, John Milius, George Lucas, Tom Sternberg, Sam Bottoms, Albert Hall, Frederic Forrest, Laurence Fishburne, Gia Coppola, Roman Coppola, Sofia Coppola, Dean Tavoularis, Fred Roos
- Directors:
- Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper, Eleanor Coppola
- Producers:
- George Zaloom, Les Mayfield
- Voiced By:
- Orson Welles
- Writers:
- Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper
- Aka:
- Hearts of Darkness
- Studio:
- StudioCanal
- Genres:
- Documentary, Special Interest
- Collections:
- Brando: A Centenary Celebration, Getting to Know..., People of the Pictures, Remembering Julian Sands and Frederic Forrest, The Coppola Clan: Hollywood's Most Creative Family
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 09/01/2012
- Run Time:
- 96 minutes
- Languages:
- English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.78:1 / 16:9
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 08/09/2025
- Run Time:
- 96 minutes
- Languages:
- English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- DVD Regions:
- Region 0 (All)
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.78:1 / 16:9
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- (0) All
- Bonus:
- New - The Making of 'Hearts of Darkness'
- New - Eleanor Coppola: Art is All Around Us
- Audio commentary by Eleanor and Francis Coppola
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Reviews (2) of Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
Madness in the Making - Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse review by griggs
Few making-of documentaries feel like survival stories, but this one does. Shot partly by Eleanor Coppola during the chaotic production of Apocalypse Now, it’s a portrait of a film—and a director—teetering on the brink. Typhoons wipe out sets, the lead actor suffers a heart attack, Brando turns up unprepared, and Francis Ford Coppola wrestles not just with a ballooning budget but with his own sanity.
What makes it one of the finest documentaries about filmmaking is how unvarnished it is. There’s no attempt to smooth over egos or rewrite history; instead, we watch a production devour time, money, and occasionally its participants. The candour is startling, the access extraordinary, and the tension almost unbearable.
It’s also a reminder that great cinema often emerges from chaos, though rarely this much of it. By the end, Hearts of Darkness has become more than a companion piece—it’s a war story in its own right, perhaps even greater than its subject, fought on a different kind of battlefield.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
It's More Than Just A Film! - Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse review by GI
A documentary about the troubled making of Apocalypse Now (1979) and really a passionate study of the 'Portrait Of the Artist As A Tortured Soul'. That soul being writer and director Francis Ford Coppola who put literally everything into the making of this film that underwent destruction of sets by tornado, his lead actor having a heart attack and his big star cameo arriving overweight and unhelpful and many other 'hiccups'! What is now considered a real masterp[iece of modern cinema is captured here by Coppola's wife, Eleanor, who filmed footage and recorded her husband without his knowledge ostensibly for her diary but conversations now included that show the emotional anguish Coppola suffered to get his film finished. If you are lover of Apocalypse Now then this is an interesting documentary that most of the actors give interviews for (apart from Marlon Brando, who allegedly had a gripe over money). Well worth a watch.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.