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I Love the Smell of Napalm in the Morning
Date Created: Jan 06, 2008, 07:05 PM
"It is the smell of... VICTORY."
It's one of the signature lines from one of the greatest movies of all-time: Francis Ford Coppola's APOCALYPSE NOW.
Since the writer's strike has rendered all of commercial TV into one long, constant reality horror show, I imagine DVD sales and rentals will go up this winter. Among the discs you should add to your queue is Apocalypse Now - and also a new release (long awaited on DVD) of a companion piece called "Hearts of Darkness - a Filmmaker's Apocalypse."
Hearts of Darkness documents the making of Apocalypse Now - and was shot primarily by Coppola's wife, Eleanor. (She even secretly recorded conversations of her husband as the entire film teetered on a constant brink of collapse.) Francis Ford Coppola is known for brilliant works such as the Godfather series (and for you young 'uns, is the father of Sofia Coppola- of "Lost in Translation" fame) but Apocalypse was the work that nearly drove him insane as he risked his entire personal fortune to make the film.
How could a documentary be this brilliant? Primarily due to the incredible troubles experienced in making the film - a controversial Vietnam-themed journey based loosely on the Joseph Conrad novel "Heart of Darkness." Yet, through it all, Coppola never gives up or gives in - and remains as brilliant and enigmatic today as he was 30+ years ago.
We see the behind-the-scenes turmoil that caused Coppola to fire Harvey Keitel as leading man one week into the massive production - and replace him with a then-36-year-old Martin Sheen (and yes, for you young 'uns who missed his work on "The West Wing," he's the dad of Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez). Coppola also agreed to pay Marlon Brando $1 million a week for three weeks of work on the film.
Choosing to shoot in the tropics deep inside the Phillipines, the production relied upon the assistance of Fernando Marcos' Philippine military - until the military and their helicopters suddenly left the production to fight rebels in their own very real civil war. The production was then beset by a typhoon - demolishing ornate, giant sets and locations, causing delays of many months to rebuild.
Sheen then suffered a near-fatal heart attack, slowing the progress further and causing even more turmoil on a production that eventually won boatloads of awards and acclaim for its intense and surreal look at the Vietnam conflict.
It's a must-see if you care or are interested in the art of making films.
For Adults Only: I can also recommend another documentary called THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED- a disturbing look at the politics and strange secrecy that surrounds the ratings system for American cinema. It's a fun and fine bit of entertainment.
Brilliant Barack: It's very, very early in the running, and I am not submitting this as an endorsement, but Barack Obama's victory speech in Iowa was as fine an example of oratory as I've seen. If he wins the presidency after holding off quality opponents such as Edwards and Clinton, this speech may be seen in the annals as one of the greatest in recent American politics. If you've not seen it, sit back and watch a master deliver a brilliant speech.
A Very Odd Feeling: For the first time in a decade, I walked into someone else's office to put in a day's work this morning. While I weigh and debate what I want to be when I grow up, I have agreed to provide several intensive weeks of consulting to assist one of NASCAR's greatest historical teams develop a new direction for their branding and publicity. It should be interesting to apply some of what I've been able to do in the past - and to add new ideas and theories to a fine organization. Stay tuned.
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