Apocalypse Now Blog #4

The first scene in Apocalypse Now where Captain Willard was in his hotel room, was totally unscripted. Martin Sheen was actually drunk, he told the camera crew to just film while he made up the whole scene. He punched the mirror and actually made himself bleed, also he attempted to attack Francis Coppola. The camera crew was so taken back by his actions and wanted to stop filming but Coppola said no. It took Coppola over 3 years to edit all of the footage. Coppola needed Martin Sheen to come in and do a few voice overs but Sheen was too busy and could not come in. Sheen's brother, Joe Estevez, had to come and do the voice overs because their voices were almost identical. Estevez was also a stand in/double for Sheen because he had suffered a heart attack during the during the filming of the movie. Estevez was not credited for any of this work. Clint Eastwood was offered the part as Captain Willard, but turned it down because he felt the film was too dark. The film was very dark but also a great piece of work. Coppola was inspired by Joseph Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness, to write this movie. Heart of Darkness was about an ivory trader going up the Congo river and discovers what happens to one of his employers, Mr. Kurtz. The Movie went through many drafts before it was just right.

Sources:  www.imdb.com  nofilmschool.com