Hearts of Darkness - A Filmmaker's Apocalypse dvd movie.|
Hearts of Darkness - A Filmmaker's Apocalypse dvd videos, dvd movies reviews |
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List Price: $24.99 Our Price: $21.99 You Save: $3 Features • NTSC In Theaters : 27 November, 1991 DVD Release : 20 November, 2007 |
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Hearts of Darkness - A Filmmaker's Apocalypse description Hearts of Darkness is an engrossing, unwavering look back at Francis Coppola's chaotic, catastrophe-plagued Vietnam production, Apocalypse Now. Filled with juicy gossip and a wonderful behind-the-scenes look at the stressful world of moviemaking, the documentary mixes on-location home movies shot in the Philippines by Eleanor Coppola, the ... review details |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | The classic documentary.... Finally on DVD! |
| Hearts of Darkness - A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is directed by Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper. People interviewed in the film and seen through archival footage include Francis Ford Coppola, Marlon Brando, Eleanor Coppola, Sofia Coppola, Dennis Hopper, Robert Duvall, Harvey Keitel, Martin Sheen, Lawrence Fishburne, Harrison Ford, George Lucas, and Sam Bottoms.
Hearts of Darkness is a behind-the-scenes look at the multi-year process of Francis Ford Coppola filming and putting together his masterpiece, Apocalypse Now. During the filming of the now-classic film, Francis' wife Eleanor recorded numerous audio reference journals, as well as video footage of the shooting process and her husband in action. Bahr and Hickenlooper combine Eleanor's audio and video recordings with then-new interviews (circa 1991) of the cast and crew, and their recollections of the filming process. With the combination of old footage and new, the story is told of Coppola's struggle to bring his idea to life - with hardships that include the time taken to film the movie stretching out to several years when it was only supposed to take a few months, the film going over budget so much so, that Coppola had to put up his own money and even pawn his belongings, as well as numerous weather, political, and health issues. Even Coppola himself was contemplating suicide numerous times during the production gone awry! But despite numerous difficulties, he finished his movie - and created one of the finest motion pictures of all time. This is one of those rare "making of" documentaries that is every bit as entertaining and interesting as the film it's about. Bahr and Hickenlooper do an excellent, almost seamless job combining their then-new interview footage with the old video and audio journals created by Eleanor during production. Even if you're already a die-hard Apocalypse Now fan, you're going to learn things you didn't know (did you know that George Lucas was originally going to direct? That Orson Welles had planned to make a movie of Heart of Darkness (the story on which Apocalypse Now was based) but abandoned the project?) For its nearly-one hundred minute duration, the compilers of this footage do an incredible job painting a picture of a distraught director, and his struggle to bring his vision to life. The film was finally released in DVD in November of 2007. The disc is light on the bonus features, but here's what is offered: -Newly recorded commentary with Francis and Eleanor Coppola. Definitely the more interesting of the two additional features included here. Eleanor shares her experiences on the Apocalypse Now set, and her difficulties and hardships in filming documentary footage, often due to her lack of experience in filming. She also talks about her documentary notes, and the story behind their publication, and how they have ultimately become vital for film students. Francis tells his side of the story, making clear that there are numerous portions of the documentary that he did not approve of (his comments during the portion about Martin Sheen's heart attack are particularly interesting.) It has often been speculated that Francis didn't want the documentary released on DVD because there were so many little things here and there he didn't approve, and this commentary track sheds some light on things. -Coda: A new documentary on Francis Ford Coppola's recent film, Youth Without Youth. After watching Hearts of Darkness, this comes off as a huge disappointment. Not only does this documentary have nothing to do with Apocalypse Now, it more-or-less comes off as an hour-long commercial for the movie. One theory I have read on numerous sites is that Francis only released Hearts of Darkness on DVD so that he could release Coda, and get more publicity out there for his new movie. An irrelevant disappointment I gladly would have aborted in favor of some Apocalypse Now-related extras. Hearts of Darkness is a masterpiece of a documentary that takes you behind the scenes on the production of one of the greatest movies ever made. Whether you're an aspiring filmmaker or just someone who loves Apocalypse Now or the cinema of Francis Ford Coppola, you will not be disappointed. Thumbs up |
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