Short Attention Span Review - Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991)

Short Attention Span Review - Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991)

If you love the cinema, you have probably seen Apocalypse Now and heard a little about the making of this visionary masterpiece.  Apocalypse Now is one of those rare feats in the industry, a stupendous achievement where tales surrounding the lengths that the artists went to create something are almost as intriguing as the work itself.  In 1991, Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper put together this documentary that offers tremendous insight into that storied production.  Deftly combining interviews with most of the key players and raw footage captured on set, Bahr and Hickenlooper allow us to feel like the proverbial fly on the wall while an audacious undertaking threatens to unravel at every turn.  Not only that, but the cast and crew threaten to unravel as well, making this a gripping tale in and of itself.  Hearts of Darkness is about people testing their boundaries.  It's also a battle against the elements and a test of endurance.  It's about faith and conviction, and it is also about desperation, and perhaps even madness.  It's one thing to ponder a director who had taken the industry by storm dragging his cast and crew into the jungle to shoot a sprawling epic while in search of an appropriate conclusion.  It's yet another to see the various challenges unfold, to listen in as Francis Ford Coppola struggles to find himself as much as he struggled to find that ending that would make the journey worthwhile.  It is an inspiring peak behind the curtain that shows us an odyssey that could have yielded disastrous results, and it is both a tribute to passion and sheer lunacy that something so prolific was born of this fury and fire.  Luck may have played a role as well.  Regardless, Hearts of Darkness is a vivid documentary that is both enlightening and entertaining.  It is surely must-see viewing for those who recognize Apocalypse Now as one of the boldest and most riveting movies ever made, but even someone who had never heard of that grim saga would probably enjoy Hearts of Darkness.  

Final Grade: A

An unparalleled look at the making of a genuine classic, this documentary is a profound exploration of art on a grand scale.