Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

Dir: Eleanor Coppola, George Hickenlooper, Fax Bahr

1991

****

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is a great insight and document of one of the most notorious film shoots in the history of cinema. It exposes the madness and obsession throughout the history of the film's legend, from the people who wanted to make it, the crew that eventually made it and the cast who went mad and nearly died being part of it. Some of it I found exaggerated. When all your money is in a project that is rapidly falling apart, the safest way to get a return is to make sure people see the film by making it 'notorious' and that is exactly what Coppola did. This film exposes him as a great marketing man but a bad director. You have to wonder if it is the big budgets and great actors alone that have made his career and not necessarily his 'Artistic input'. I found him and his wife to be extremely annoying, naive and stupid throughout this documentary, Apocalypse Now is a great film but it's a shame it couldn't of happened to a nicer man. You have to question what it is to be a great director and would a great director have made such a film in such a disastrous way and could other directors work then have made just as good, if not a better job of it? Either way, this is essential viewing for anyone seeking a career in film making but as more of a how not to do it guide but then again, all you really need is a lot of luck and a lot of money, you don't even need a particularly original idea (see Werner Herzog's Aguirre, The Wrath of God), this film is proof of that. Fascinating watching all the same.

Factory Girl
Dir: George Hickenlooper
2007
****
I really liked George Hickenlooper's Factory Girl but from what I can tell it sounds as if I'm in the minority. Sure the editing is a little muddled and it's a little bit all over the place but I think that it actually works quite well (especially if you've seen any of Warhol's films). Sienna Miller is brilliant in her portrayal of Edie Sedgwick, I really think she has been treated badly in the press and in casting, she is a rare talent that is being wasted in my opinion. I really hope she gets more action over the next few years, I believe she's destined to be top of the game soon. Guy Pearce is equally impressive as Warhol and is just as good as David Bowie in my opinion (Basquiat, 1996). Hayden Christensen is the only problem in this film. His performance is an impression rather than a performance or interpretation and it's not a particularly good one at that. 
George Hickenlooper is a director you can rely on. His documentaries are great and this film has just the right balance of both. At an hour and a half, the information is crammed in and there is more to tell about the Factory but as an insight into the life of Sedgwick I think it's pretty much spot on.

Mayor of the Sunset Strip
Dir: George Hickenlooper
2003
****
Rodney Bingenheimer is more of a 'lucky charm to the stars' rather than a 'fame-f*cker' like the detestable sexual vampire that is Pamela Des Barres or the egomaniac with a questionable past that is Kim Fowley (although I quite like Fowley, he's just not as nice as Bingenheimer). Bingenheimer has both the temperament and mannerisms of Andy Warhol and he also is the epitome of Warhol's philosophy, 'famous for 15 minutes' if you will. This is an interesting look into the world of a man who hung around with music legends and possibly influenced them to a degree. It's hard not to like the film because Bingenheimer himself is just so likable. The best bit of the film for me is when his sister is being interviewed, badmouths her Brother, stating that he is unreliable and never had a real job etc only to be rendered speechless when he hands her an autograph he got Elvis to personalize for her over 30 years before that he had just found.