Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

[dx23]

According to a reviewer on DVDTalk, Hearts of Darkness is coming to DVD on November 20th.

[Matt]

Confirmed at DVD Times:

Paramount Home Entertainment have announced the Region 1 DVD release of Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse on 20th November 2007.

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is an engrossing, unwavering look back at Francis Ford 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 director's wife, with revealing interviews with the cast and crew, shot 10 years later.

Released theatrically in 1991, the documentary comes to DVD with the following features:

* Commentary by Francis and Eleanor Coppola
* â€

[HerrSchreck]

I'm actually surprised, since he contradicts his his reasons stated in the REDUX dvd's & docs for the scenes now included in that cut. He fucking hated them at the time, stated that when deleting them during the original cut... and only started to "like" them again when it became clear that he could make a shitload of money revisiting the film and going out again with it.

NAPOLEON, man. This man is a villain until he backs off.

[FilmFanSea]

Great timing. My very first (gasp) viewing of Apocalypse Now (1979) was just two days ago, which got me thinking about whether the Hearts of Darkness doc would ever make it to DVD.

[Highway 61]

Do we know if this is the original cut? Rumor had it that Coppola had been holding off the release because he came off like a dick to Sheen and, as Schreck mentioned, the contradictions with Redux.

[Sanjuro]

But with the commentary track included he can now contradict his contradictions so everything's clear again.

[Antoine Doinel]

I don't think Coppola is worried about offending anyone:

From IMDB:

Coppola vs. Pacino, De Niro and Nicholson

Director Francis Ford Coppola has unaccountably castigated three of Hollywood's top stars, whom he has directed in the past, accusing Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Jack Nicholson of "living off the fat of the land" and doing little that is challenging or ambitious. In an interview with GQ magazine, Coppola noted that "Pacino is very rich, maybe because he never spends any money ... [De Niro] created an empire and is wealthy and powerful ... [Nicholson] is always wired in with the big guys and the big bosses of the studios." Coppola added, "You know, even in those days after The Godfather, I didn't feel that those actors were ready to say, 'Let's do something else really ambitious." Commenting on Coppola's remarks, the New York Daily News's "Rush and Molloy" column observed, "Some might ask Coppola how he has challenged himself lately. He admits he has been focused on his vineyard and on his resorts in Belize and Guatemala." And L.A. Weekly columnist Nikki Finke remarked, "Is there anything more hypocritical than a judgmental Francis Ford Coppola?"

[HerrSchreck]

Yeah, Francis... great idea. Very very good idea... invite close examination of your own creative impulse over the past twenty years.

So when is he supposed to have made these statements?

[jaredsap]

Hickenlooper posted this on Hollywood Elsewhere, along with a bunch of other stuff:

It also saddens me that I spent many hours of time and energy talking to the folks at Criterion who are dying to put it out. I even flew myself to Denver to have lunch with Francis to talk him into it. That was three years ago. He said he'd get back to me but I guess he's been to busy. So here we are. I found out about it last night and it's coming out on Paramount DVD. I only hope that it has it's 1.33 aspect ration. A lot of theaters mistakenly projected it at 1.85 and cut off some of the titles and images. Maybe someday Criterion will be able to get it and I'll be able to do the commentary and tell all these hilarious stories about my encounter with Denis Jacob who stole the negative when Francis was in post.

[Jeff]

Hickenlooper posted this on Hollywood Elsewhere, along with a bunch of other stuff:

Yep. Hickenlooper is (rightfully) pissed, and he's still at it over there. The latest:

Having just viewed the packaging of my film, I have to say I am really pissed off. And I am not pissed off at Paramount. I spoke to Home Video guy Michael Harkin today and he told me Paramount had nothing to do with the packaging or mastering of the DVD. It was ALL delivered by Zoetrope. So this is all Francis' doing and he never even bothered to return my emails or phone calls. The last one in May reminding him about the Criterion offer. And now I have just seen the packaging and I am really disappointed. By writing at the bottom of the package "Eleanor Coppola's Follow-Up Documentary" there is an implication that HEARTS was Eleanor Coppola's documentary, period. Which kind of bomastically implies that Fax Bahr and I were little more than ghost writer/directors. The truth is Eleanor Coppola was NOT INVOLVED AT ALL IN THE MAKING OF "HEARTS OF DARKNESS." She saw the film once we had FINISHED IT and before we showed it to Francis. I honestly don't think she had one comment. Well yes she did. She asked us to remove Dennis Hopper's remark that Francis was supplying him with cocaine on a daily basis. She also asked us to remove Grey Fredrickson's remark that Francis was almost arrested when military police showed up because the real dead bodies being used on the Kurz compaound were actually stolen from a local morgue. That was it. There was absolutely no creative input from Eleanor into the making of HEARTS other than the wonderful RAW FOOTAGE she shot in 1976. I am assuming Fax Bahr's and my name are still in the credit block but it wouldn't suprise me, by the way this whole thing has been handled so arrogantly by Francis, if it wasn't. We did happen to win Emmys for directing and writing. I gotta tell you guys, I worship Francis and his general support and enthusiasm for creative expression and filmmaker's independence -- especially in light of his doing YOUNG YOUTHFUL YOUTH. I just find it a tad bit hypocritical that he would so blatantly disregard the two principal creative forces behind HEARTS OF DARKNESS.

[skuhn8]

And the little bead on Coppola's piece-of-shit-o-meter just keeps inching ever upwards. It's funny looking at the history of cinema when for the first 70 years directors couldn't get control over their work, and then when some of them finally do in the past 30 we get all this Princess Shithead behavior from the likes of Coppola and Steve guns-to-walkietalkies Spielberg...and let's not even get started on Lucas!

[dx23]

By the looks of everything that is going on between the people that were involved in one point or another with Hearts of Darkness, it seems that they should be doing a documentary of the documentary.

[cdnchris]

Yikes! I can only imagine how pissed I would be if I've spent a long time trying to get my film released only to find out some half assed one was being released and that I only found out about it because I was surfing the web. I just hope they didn't fuck with the film itself.

[flyonthewall2983]

FYI, Francis referred to Hearts Of Darkness as his wife's documentary on the recent Apocalypse DVD.

[malcolm1980]

They should have a box-set which includes this with Apocalypse Now.

[greggster59]

They should have a box-set which includes this with Apocalypse Now.

No doubt they will now that this is available.

[kinjitsu]

It should have been included in the so-called Complete Dossier, but not without Hickenlooper's participation.

[HerrSchreck]

If all of this is true, for those who've seen this (I have the old Paramount vhs), the film itself is a bit misleading, as Eleanor does the v/o setting up the film as though it is indeed her film. I'm going to pull it out and watch it again... but Coppola is just determined to be relevant to no one else but his own whims and desires. Is getting old and aesthetically burnt out that horrendous, even with the consolations of great wealth, and the satisfaction of knowing one has created a couple of top ten of all time masterpieces for the ages, and that ones name and work will be studied forever?

Or is the fact of all of that the reason this man is behaving so strange these days?.

[Romat]

He fucking hated them at the time, stated that when deleting them during the original cut... and only started to "like" them again when it became clear that he could make a shitload of money revisiting the film and going out again with it.

I thought the story was, he liked them but realized the plantation scene and the helicopter monsoon scenes just slowed things down too much, and went too far off "the mission". At the time, Apocalypse was getting a lot of bad press leading up to it's release. Coppola was afraid everyone would hate it, it would tank etc. So he cut out the scenes to make it more "commercial". Of course he'd have to rationalize that at the time, saying the cut scenes weren't needed. 20 years later, it was already a known and respected film, and he wasn't worried about things being too long, or too weird. So he added them back in for the Redux.

And did he really make a lot of money off of the Redux? It didn't even get a decent theatrical release in the U.S.

In any case, both versions are great.

[exte]

...and the satisfaction of knowing one has created a couple of top ten of all time masterpieces for the ages, and that ones name and work will be studied forever?

I think you got it. I argued one day that he must've said to himself once:
I directed The Godfather.
I directed The Godfather.
I directed The Godfather.
I directed The Godfather.

[Magic Hate Ball]

INT. COPPOLA DINING ROOM (1985)

Coppola is eating a BLT while reading the newspaper. He pauses mid-chew.

COPPOLA
I directed The Godfather.

He looks up and blinks.

COPPOLA
I DIRECTED The Godfather.

He drops the sandwich onto the plate.

COPPOLA
I DIRECTED THE GODFATHER.

EXT. COPPOLA HOUSE, CONTINUOUS

COPPOLA
(O.S., MUFFLED)
I DIRECTED THE GODFATHER!!!

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Replace BLT with BBB.

Isn't there anything Hickenlooper can do to gain at least some control for the documentary?

[CSM126]

INT. COPPOLA DINING ROOM (1985) ...

This forum has now officially peaked. It's all downhill from this.

[HerrSchreck]

I thought the story was, he liked them but realized the plantation scene and the helicopter monsoon scenes just slowed things down too much, and went too far off "the mission". At the time, Apocalypse was getting a lot of bad press leading up to it's release. Coppola was afraid everyone would hate it, it would tank etc. So he cut out the scenes to make it more "commercial". Of course he'd have to rationalize that at the time, saying the cut scenes weren't needed. 20 years later, it was already a known and respected film, and he wasn't worried about things being too long, or too weird. So he added them back in for the Redux.

You clearly have not seen HEARTS OF DARKNESS, and are buying into the Coppola river of uh... gook.

Sir... REDUX made a very very good load between exhibition and dvd, which is the point. Not just exhibition, but to represent it again to the world-- television sales, rights to all regions for a new REDUX disc, then with a REDUX/Original Cut (dossier) planned for thereafter. As I.B. Watson said

"Think."

[Gofter]

Hearts of Darkness: French plantation scene