20 Documentary Movies You Must See Before You Die

18. Hearts Of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991)

Without question, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is the definitive documentary about the making of a motion picture.

Forget about the infamously nightmarish shoots of films like Jaws or Blade Runner; it all pales in comparison to what Francis Ford Coppola had to deal with during the making of his masterpiece Apocalypse Now - and it's all here to witness in Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper and Eleanor Coppola's endlessly gripping and horrifying film.

If you've ever thought about making a movie, this documentary will make you think twice about your ambitions; aside from the ever-increasing cost of the film, Hearts of Darkness details all the major problems that plagued the production of Apocalypse Now (from Martin Sheen having a heart attack to Coppola threatening to blow his own brains out).

As Francis Ford Coppola once stated: his movie isn't about Vietnam, it is Vietnam. Because he and and his crew really went to hell and back in order to produce what is arguably the greatest war film ever made. But Coppola knows that in order to understand Apocalypse Now, you must first understand Hearts of Darkness.