Film Forum

U.S., 1991
Directed by Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper, Eleanor Coppola
Featuring Eleanor Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, George Lucas, John Milius, Martin Sheen
Approx. 96 min. DCP.

“An engulfing, brilliantly crafted documentary about the disaster-strewn production of Coppola’s APOCALYPSE NOW…. Much of the credit should go to Eleanor Coppola, Francis’s wife, who shot sixty hours of behind-the-scenes footage on location in the Philippines, caught her husband’s haywire visionary mood swings on audiotape, and [joins] the ranks of the interviewees [which also include George Lucas, Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper, et al.]... Bahr and Hickenlooper present the extraordinary spectacle of a filmmaker at the peak of his clout, banking everything on his ability to pull inspiration out of the fire, and getting scorched.” – Michael Sragow, The New Yorker. “If there were an Oscar® for a real-life performance in a documentary, Coppola would deserve it… No actor has ever played a superstar director with such articulate authority, and anguished self-doubt — not even Mastroianni in Fellini’s 8½.”  – Joseph Gelmis, Newsday.

Shot in 16mm, with the film excerpts originally letterboxed into the 4x3 frame (with a mono track), HEARTS OF DARKNESS has been restored by American Zoetrope from the original negatives, with the APOCALYPSE NOW passages presented in their original 2.39:1 aspect ratio, with a re-mixed 5.1 soundtrack. 

Restored at American Zoetrope and graded at Roundabout Entertainment. Restoration supervised by Francis Ford Coppola. Special thanks to James Mockoski, American Zoetrope's Film Archivist and Restoration Supervisor.

A RIALTO PICTURES RELEASE

Trailer

Reviews

“THE MAKING OF A FILM HAS NEVER BEEN DOCUMENTED WITH MORE PENETRATION AND TRUTH.”
– Roger Ebert