Hearts of Darkness A Filmmakers Apocalypse

After watching Hearts of Darkness, I find it very informative, big and a well in-depth documentary on Apocalypse Now (Coppola, 1979) and Francis Ford Coppola’s personal experience making the film and accounts from his wife. Everything was very interesting including writing up a script, shooting the film, budgeting, and the location of the film. First thing was hesitation prior to filming because there was never a film about the Vietnam War in a motion picture format. The only thing we got during that time of moving pictures was live news coverage of the war and real life as it was happening live events of the war. Apparently, Coppola had it all drafted based off a novel of the same title but again writing about it was very difficult. He did finish it but he put it on hold due to working on his Godfather Trilogy. Getting a budget was also very difficult due to the fact none of the major studios wanted it but Warner Bros. did hold onto it but later changed their decision and dropped it. It wasn’t obtained until later by a small film company United Artist (known for films such as James Bond series, The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, Rocky and Midnight Cowboy) greenlit and helped finance it for Coppola. Going on location was extremely difficult because they couldn’t go to Vietnam because of tensions between them and the US and the attitude they had about the war so instead they shot everything at the Philippines. They faced challenges while filming on location such as the weather conditions and the attitude of the people living there didn’t want them nor were to thrilled of their presence. Most of the cast and crew from The Godfather worked on this film and his wife who also did a major part. The only cast member that was acting on this film was Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall. The only new actor was Martin Sheen. Both Sheen and Brando have outstanding roles being one of them is portraying generals and the main people at the event. Also, what was helpful the use of military vehicles and soldiers and went to get help from numerous branches of the armed forces weren’t interested until the US army.

            Overall, it is a good film and documentary. The film Apocalypse Now won two Academy Awards (Best Cinematography & Best Sound), three Golden Globes (Best Director, Best Original Score and Best Supporting Actor) and won in the 1979 Cannes Film Festival. The documentary won two Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awards for Outstanding Individual Achievement for directing and picture editing and was listed as Best Movie of 1991. The documentary was very informative and an interesting look at directing a film. I would highly encourage this documentary to anyone who’s looking for or learning about the challenges of being a filmmaker.

Works Citied

Bahr, Fax, et al. Hearts of Darkness--a Filmmaker's Apocalypse. Triton Pictures, 1991.