One Paragraph Movie Review: Hearts of Darkness

Two hundred and twenty-first film: Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, a documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now made from footage shot by Coppola’s wife, Eleanor. On the one hand, this is a film about how pretentious rich American feature film makers can be. On the other hand, it’s about the fact that they absolutely know they’re pretentious, and that they’re excused if they make good movies. I guess. Still, this is an incredible ride, and I want to see documentaries about the making of movies the moment I stop watching a movie, every time forever. Apocalypse Now was an absolute shitfight to get “in the can” (as pretentious filmmakers might say). Shot in the Philippines using Ferdinand Marcos’s helicopters that kept flying off, original lead Harvey Keitel being fired, replacement lead Martin Sheen having both a breakdown and a heart attack during filming, and Marlon Brando just being a flat-out asshole, Apocalypse Now went over time, over budget, is 80% sweat, 20% smoke machines, and Coppola had no idea how to finish it. Thank god, once again, for Dennis Hopper, who shows in this doco that he is exactly as scattered, rambling, and brilliant in real life as he is when he’s acting. Just… just put Dennis Hopper in everything. Completely fascinating, and a bit depressing. Four accidentally smashed mirrors out of five.