Doc Talk Podcast Goes Upriver For Riveting Conversation About Newly Restored ‘Hearts Of Darkness,’ One Of Greatest Documentaries Ever
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.Generate Key TakeawaysA “making of” documentary sounds like a rather mundane endeavor, a by-the-numbers exercise. But not when it comes to exploring how Francis Ford Coppola made his masterpieceApocalypse Now, a notoriously punishing shoot in the Philippines that seemingly tested the sanity of nearly everyone involved and almost cost star Martin Sheen his life.
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, the film that chronicles the making ofApocalypse Now, has reached iconic status itself. Now, 34 years after its initial release, the documentary has been restored in 4K and returns to theaters beginning July 4thin New York, expanding to Los Angeles, Chicago and other cities in the coming weeks. An Ultra HD collector’s edition becomes available July 28.
More from Deadline
Doc Talk Goes ‘Underland’ And Overground To Cover DC/DOX And Bentonville Film Festival
Doc Talk Podcast: Up Close In Cannes With Bono, Mariska Hargitay, Raoul Peck, Eugene Jarecki And Makers Of Shia LaBeouf Film ‘Slauson Rec’
Doc Talk Podcast: 'Social Studies' Director Lauren Greenfield On Power & Peril Of Social Media, Where Kids Find Sexualization The Norm And Bullying Rampant
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R16ekkr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R26ekkr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframeOn the latest episode of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, we get the inside story on the making of the “making of” film. Our guests are Fax Bahr, who directedHearts of Darknesswith the late George Hickenlooper and the late Eleanor Coppola – wife of Francis Ford Coppola – and American Zoetrope’s James Mockoski, who oversaw the restoration process.
RELATED: Remembering Eleanor Coppola, Whose Quiet Contribution To Cinema Will Live On
Bahr and Mockoski tells us why a dozen years passed between the initial release ofApocalypse Nowin 1979 and the premiere ofHearts of Darkness, a delay that speaks volumes about the traumatic experience for the production team and actors on the set of Coppola’s Vietnam War film. They also tell us how Eleanor Coppola managed to record unforgettable scenes even as her husband appeared to be coming apart at the seams under creative and financial pressure. And we debate what version ofApocalypse Nowis the finest – the original ’79 version or Coppola’s expandedApocalypse Now Redux.
Doc Talk co-host John Ridley calledHearts of Darknessone of the greatest films to document a work of cinema. I go further, calling it one of the greatest documentaries of all time, of any genre.
RELATED: Spike Lee Says ‘Apocalypse Now’ “F—ed Me Up” At Francis Ford Coppola’s AFI Life Achievement Tribute — Watch
That’s on the new episode of Doc Talk, hosted by Oscar winner Ridley (12 Years a Slave,Shirley) and Matt Carey, Deadline’s documentary editor. The show is a production of Deadline and Ridley’s Nō Studios.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R1dekkr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R2dekkr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframeListen to the episode above or on major podcast platforms includingSpotify,iHeartandApple.
Best of Deadline
2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery
'Poker Face' Season 2 Guest Stars: From Katie Holmes To Simon Hellberg
Everything We Know About 'The Devil Wears Prada 2'
Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
