Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A chronicle of the production problems — including bad weather, actors' health, war near the filming locations, and more — which plagued the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of Francis Ford Coppola.
Hearts of Darkness is a remarkable documentary that captures the catastrophic, near-mythic production of Apocalypse Now with extraordinary intimacy — much of it shot covertly by Eleanor Coppola. The 'plot' (the unfolding real-world drama of ego, madness, typhoons, and Brando's whims) is genuinely riveting, earning a 4. The novelty is high: few making-of documentaries achieve this level of raw, fly-on-the-wall access and thematic resonance, where the film being made mirrors the chaos of making it. Acting is rated as documentary subject performance — Coppola, Sheen, and Brando are compelling but it's reality, not craft. Cinematography is functional and occasionally striking given constraints but not exceptional. The ending is solid but somewhat deflating after the wild ride — the resolution is historical fact rather than a crafted climax.