Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse Details

An enthralling documentary about the making of Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam drama Apocalypse Now. Using new interviews and footage shot on location by Coppola's wife, Eleanor, this is a catalogue of madness and inspiration in the jungles of the Philippines. There's the overweight Marlon Brando showing how unprepared he was, the firing of Harvey Keitel, Martin Sheen's heart attack and previously unseen material (a superb sequence in a French plantation house that Coppola foolishly cut). Other crises include typhoons and President Marcos withdrawing his helicopters to fight a real war. With contributions from Coppola, screenwriter John Milius and a characteristically incoherent Dennis Hopper, this is an unmissable treat for fans of the movie and, indeed, for anyone interested in the cinema.

Fascinating glimpse not only of filmmaking on a troubled location with oversized egos in collision, but also of Hollywood attitudes of the time. It bears out Coppola's own summation, 'We had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by litt