Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

A fascinating 1991 postmortem on the making of Francis Coppola's Apocalypse Now.

At once anecdotal and revealing, this excellent film both illuminates the catastrophes that beset one particular project, and shows, by way of comparison, exactly what American film has foregone since the '70s.

There have been few sharper portraits of the film maker as alchemist than Hearts of Darkness: A Film Maker's Apocalypse.

Hearts of Darkness gives a privileged glimpse of the artist's hell, but it also says something about grace.

Harrowing and funny, a fine film on its own, Hearts leaves us with a new appreciation for the Vietnam War epic it documents.

If there ever was a true “tortured artist” it would be Mr. Coppola between the years of 1976 and 1979. His is one of the greatest filmmaking accomplishments in the history of cinema, and his wife’s tribute to him is equally as inspirational and uplifting.

The documentary isn't assembled with the steadiest of hands, but it's difficult not to be enthralled by what shaped one of the most remarkable of all war movies.

A fascinating, vivid and complex portrait of an obsessed artist. [Full review in Spanish]

For a portrait of cinematic obsession and unbridled megalomania... one would be hard pressed to find a more satisfying piece of work than Hearts of Darkness