July 8, 2001

HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER'S APOCALYPSE U.S., 1991. Color. Rated R. 96 Minutes. Directed by Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper. Documentary on the making of Apocalypse Now.

"The making of a film," writes Roger Ebert, "has never been documented with more penetration and truth than in Hearts of Darkness, which chronicles the agony and the ecstasy of Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now." Ebert, who awards this documentary 3½ stars out of four, explains: "That is because no other documentary has ever had access to materials that are normally off limits: shots that were never used, scenes that were abandoned, private arguments between the director and his actors, cries for help and confessions of despair, and even conversations between Coppola and his wife that she secretly tape-recorded." Leonard Maltin, who also gives the film 3½ stars, says Hearts of Darkness "Expertly mixes footage shot by Eleanor Coppola (the director's wife) during the film's shooting in the Philippines and decade-later interviews with crew and cast (excluding Marlon Brando, who declined to participate)."