"\;Hearts of Darknes
s"\;
Produced &\; Moderated by Sumner Jules
Glimcher.
When Franc
is Coppola decided to make Apocalypse Now, he hi
red his wife Eleanor to shoot a \;behind-the-scenes documentary covering
the production. \;She was given extraordinary access \;to both her husban
d and the other key creative ensemble members, throughout the entire proce
ss. \;By all accounts the making of the film was a war unto itself. \;An o
riginal 16 week production \;schedule ballooned to 265 days of principle photog
raphy, delayed by myriad problems including a typhoon, a heart attack suff
ered by lead actor Martin Sheen, struggles with financing, with Marlon Bra
ndo, and with the ending of the script. \;Eleanor shot over 80 hours
of film on set, and recorded countless hours of audiotape. \;After Apocalypse Now was finally released in 1979, sever
al attempts were made to cut the documentary. \;Eventually, the proje
ct was abandoned. \;Eleanor&rsquo\;s footage sat in a Zoetrope storag
e unit for nearly 10 years, until filmmakers Fax Bahr, George Zalo
om, and Doug Claybourne secured financing, and p
ut together the documentary. Hearts of Darkness is an insider&rsquo\;s vie
w of the making of Apocalypse Now, one of the mo
st controversial films of the 1970&rsquo\;s. The 96-minute film covers the
extraordinary story, from pre-production through its release. \;Inte
rviews with the principal creative team include George Lucas, Dennis Hoppe
r, John Milius, Francis Coppola, Eleanor Coppola, Martin Sheen...
Director&rsquo\;s
Statement:
&ldquo\;In choosing a story
that transposed Joseph Conrad&rsquo\;s masterpiece &ldquo\;Hearts
of Darkness&rdquo\; to America&rsquo\;s war in Vietnam, Coppola
intended to probe a dark hour of US history. \;The upriver journey of
Colonel Willard into the madness of the jungle, and into the depths of hi
s own heart, was sure to strike a sensitive chord with the American psyche
. \;As the production snowballed into a seemingly unstoppable catastr
ophe, Coppola&rsquo\;s personal journey began to parallel that of his main
character. \;Hearts of Darkness is the sto
ry of the relentless pursuit of an artistic vision, an obsession that prof
oundly changed the lives of everyone connected to it.&rdquo\; \;Fax B
ahr has written, executive produced and directed for both television and m
otion pictures. He wrote and directed for Fox Television&rsquo\;s landmark
comedy series In Living Color, created Mad TV, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, as well as many ot
her series. \;He co-wrote and produced Malibu&rsquo\;s Mo
st Wanted. Hearts of Darkness prem
iered at the Cannes Film Festival and won many awards, including \;Natio
nal Board of Review Best Documentary, National Board of Canada Best Docume
ntary, and a \;Best Director Emmy Award for Bahr. \;Gene Siskel called it
&ldquo\;one of the best films of 1991&rdquo\;. \;Bahr has \;guest-lectured
at University Of Southern California. \;He currentl
y resides in Los Angeles, \;where he is writing Defriended
, a screenplay for Escape Artists/Sony Pictures, and a mini-series&nb
sp\;based
on the life of Miguel Cervantes.
RESER
VATIONS REQUIRED DUE TO BUILDING SECURITY. ALL NAMES MUST BE ON GUEST LIST
. Please RSVP via email info@nyemmys.org to reserve a seat. Please write &
ldquo\;Darkness&rdquo\; in the subject line. Space is limited.