Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is a documentary about the troubled making of Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. Shooting began in the Philippines in 1976 and was supposed to last a matter of weeks, but it stretched on for years. The production was hit by a typhoon, by health problems among the cast, and by conflict near the locations. Eleanor Coppola, the director's wife, filmed much of what happened on set with a 16 mm camera, kept a journal and recorded conversations, and that material forms the backbone of the film. The documentary also looks at the writing and casting of Apocalypse Now and at the strain the project put on Coppola's career.

Eleanor Coppola directs alongside Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper, who also wrote the screenplay, with Les Mayfield and George Zaloom producing. The film appeared in 1991, ahead of the features Bahr and Hickenlooper went on to make and long before Eleanor Coppola's later directing work. On camera are Coppola himself, Eleanor Coppola, John Milius, George Lucas, Sam Bottoms and Albert Hall, among a credited cast of 21. It runs 96 minutes and took about 1 million dollars worldwide.

Audience response on TMDB is strong, at 7.9 out of 10 from 436 votes, while a critics' rating of 8.4 out of 10 from 27 reviews puts professional assessment somewhat higher.