We have three cuts of Apocalypse Now on 4K. Now we get the definitive behind the scenes documentary.
It’s a good thing Eleanor Coppola shot on 16mm in the ‘70s. Thankfully, they didn’t have VHS yet back then so we got a real film. And you can compare the 35mm movie scenes with 16mm behind the scenes of the same scenes.
Even 16mm gets some pure shadow in the helicopter cabin, under the reel-to-reel tape player and surrounding the day 200 celebration.
The film clip of the playmate USO show and Raw footage of Kurtz’s bloodlust speech are really evocative voids.
Eleanor Coppola: Art All Around Us has Francis, Sofia and Roman share what support she provided all of them making their films. And we get to see that in her short subjects on the bonus disc.
She does video docs on Chinese women and a memorial to lost children, but of interest to film lovers will be her featurettes on other Coppola films.
Coda: 30 Years Later is an hour long making of Youth Without Youth. That’s a weird movie but the making of it is far more interesting. It seems Francis always questions himself and gets in logistical trouble on every film. Ironically the one he seemed most sure of was One From the Heart and it cost him everything. This includes Megalopolis 2nd unit from before 2005.
The Making of Marie Antoinette is more focused on the technical aspects of the period piece. The Rainmaker seems a smooth production but still drills into a few minute scenes and motivating performances. The Virgin Suicides showed similar drilling into scenes via improv character work.
Eleanor’s ‘70s shorts are on film too with a potato, house, and a refrigerator. Hey, it’s art, man!