Too much of everything

Instant Favorite.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Superb documentary on the making of one of the greatest movies of all time. Apocalypse Now as a finished product is a brilliant work of art. An adaptation of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, it is much more than a war movie. It is a psychological drama, an examination of humanity, sanity and the insanity of war and an exploration of the darkest of human nature.This documentary details the making of the masterpiece, which was as much as drama as the movie itself. Possibly the most grueling ordeal film-makers have undergone for their craft. Time over-runs, budget blowouts, filming in the middle of a civil war, firing the lead actor, the new leading actor having heart attacks, troubles with another (and very big-name) actor. Just about everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Yet, the movie was made, and was certainly worth all the effort.A study in perseverance, vision and suffering for one's art.

This is probably the best documentary you'll ever see about the process of filmmaking."Hearts of Darkness" documents the disastrous and painful filming of Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. Through interviews with cast and crew members and footage from the actual filming, you get a first-row view of the catastrophes that plagues the production - Marlon Brando's noncooperation, Charlie Sheen's heart attack and alcohol-fueled breakdown, the typhoon that destroyed half the set and equimpent, and more.But more than that you get insight into Francis Ford Coppola's own psyche, and the painstaking process he went through with his last great film, and one he still considers a failure. It's the portrait of a man who allowed himself to become a dictator and a god, and then crashed to complete depression and despair - more than once."Hearts of Darkness" is essential for true film lovers, because it provides real insights into the process and the art of creating a film, and what it meant to be a director in the age of the auteur, when directors were given free rein with their films - and not always for the best.

I've never seen behind-the-scenes documentary filmmaking quite like this, except for something like Werner Herzog's Burden of Dreams, where a nightmarish series of events kept occurring, including a massive monsoon, military unease(the Filipino government for which he worked out a partnership, kept taking helicopters from him during key moments in his movie!), constant re-writes(Coppola was constantly "revamping" John Milius' script), casting issues(the lead had to be changed even though Harvel Keitel's name was printed on the poster advertising the movie!), cast and crew succumbing to numerous crises both physical(Martin Sheen has a heart attack, his role is so incredibly demanding!)and psychological(director Francis Ford Coppola nearly had a nervous breakdown and claims to almost go mad while going through the 200 day process of bringing APOCALYPSE NOW to the screen)and dealing with budgetary problems(Coppola had to put up his own money and house as collateral)as the movie's delay made the media rounds with much scrutiny(one headline read:APOCALYPSE WHEN?). Coppola's wife documented footage, pieced with interviews with the likes of Martin Sheen and Lawrence Fishburne(who was 14 or so when he starred in the movie). Coppola had audio interviews with his wife that she secretly kept for the documentary to elaborate the toll for which the movie was taking on her husband. The heart attack of Sheen really set back Coppola as did Marlon Brando's eccentricities(the way he needed constant discussion with Coppola of the character and script). The most eye-opening moments include the late Dennis Hopper, obviously in a bad state with drugs(his bouts with Coppola are fascinating as it pertains to asking Hopper to commit to a scene with Brando). This film truly shows a man suffering for his art, doing whatever it takes to get it made, even if there were plenty of times where he was more than a bit critical of the work that was being made. The scene where Coppola wants Sheen to reach down to the very lower depths to present a pain his character is going through, the darkness overtaking him and being spilled forth, is startling. Coppola truly gave all that he had for this film and it is presented for us--all the afflictions, wear and tear, that one is burdened with during the movie-making process is shown, honest and open for us to experience.

With "Apocalypse Now", Francis Ford Coppola sought to expose colonialism. But as his wife Eleanor's documentary shows, he ended up creating it in the process of filming his movie. "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse" mostly looks at the problems that plagued the film's production and nearly bankrupted Coppola*. But it also shows how he went to a third world country, brought western technology, and made the people there work for him. The madness depicted in the movie is nothing compared to the events on the set.All in all, it's an amazing insight into one of the greatest movies ever made. Still, you should see the movie before the documentary, just so that the story behind it doesn't bias you. Perfect.*Apparently, as a result of his near bankruptcy, Coppola smashed four of his five Oscars and briefly separated from his wife.