Despite having to settle for a grainy youtube copy of the original video release (it is yet to be released on DVD), the raw power of Hearts of Darkness, the chronicle of the hell on earth that was the making of Apocalypse Now, is plain and obvious. Bahr and Hickenlooper’s film is, hands down, the finest documentary ever made, a profound, no holds barred look into the disaster, near deaths and full blown mental breakdowns that plagued the film from the beginning.
Watching Coppola, at that point untouchable due to the success of both Godfather films, literally sacrifice everything get the picture made (he funded the film purely with his own money) to is either an inspiring sight of inspiring dedication or a sign that the man has broken down completely. Listen to him refusing to believe Martin Sheen’s heart attack, an ailment that nearly killed the actor at the age of 36, was anything but a cry for sympathy and tell me the man is not loosing it.
The fact that the end result turned out to be the last great film of the 70’s is nothing short of staggering.
5/5
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