Review of Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991) by Tibor B — 23 Jan 2012

Most people with an interest in film have heard some of the stories of Coppola's massively ambitious Apocalypse Now shoot, but it's fascinating to see the first-hand account, using on-set documentary footage shot by Francis's wife.

As the film goes massively over-budget and over schedule, hampered by difficult conditions and wrecked sets in the typhoons at the Phillipine locations, Sheen going off the rails to the extent of a heart attack, a vague script with an unwritten ending and an overweight, mumbling Brando the overriding feeling is, just how did Coppola hold it (and himself) together for so long?! It really shows the stamina a stubborn artist with everything on the line can achieve, and that great things often have more than a little madness within them.