@tylermunns
The wonderful documentary, “Heart’s of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse” features recorded conversations of Francis Ford Coppola with his wife, Eleanor. These conversations feature Mr. Coppola expressing enormous anxiety about whether he is making a “sh***y, pompous, bad movie.” He had assets, set pieces, clout, bankable stars, plenty of stuff that could have caused him to be content, rest on his laurels, and get away with an unscrupulous attention to detail, emotional resonance, truthful social commentary and truthful examination of human nature.
He didn’t. These concerns drive him to the brink of madness because he cared about them deeply.
I think we can recognize when artists care in this way, and when they do not.
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I've seen that documentary a couple of times and it's certainly well put together.
Nevertheless, wasn't there an awful lot of frantic improvisation and rewriting required after Marlon Brando turned up in an unexpected physical condition?
When you also consider that Martin Sheen suffered a minor heart attack during the making of Apocalypse Now, there's no doubting the seriousness of its director's intentions.
The fact that Coppola somehow made it all work out and still pull in a healthy profit just shows the unpredictable power of art that can sometimes transcend the intentions of its creator.
The real trick facing all artists, whatever their medium, is how to create something of artistic merit that also succeeds commercially.
Remember the old 10cc line?
"Art for arts sake
Money for Gods sake"
I believe some of us certainly can distinguish between a sincere artistic effort and a purely calculating commercial one.
Unfortunately, for us at least, it seems as if far too many people cynically opt for the second part.
Either way, whichever one is more important to the creator will be difficult enough to achieve alone.
To succeed at both is quite something else.
