ARRIVING ON LOCATION MASSIVELY OVERWEIGHT AND NOT HAVING READ THE NOVEL, BRANDO WAS NOT EXACTLY WHAT DIRECTOR FRANCIS COPPOLA HAD IN MIND FOR THE KEY ROLE OF KURTZ IN THIS AMBITIOUS VIETNAM WAR EPIC BASED ON JOSEPH CONRAD’S HEART OF DARKNESS.
In desperation, Coppola and his cinematographer had to devise a special lighting and shooting style which meant that Brando’s brooding presence was only glimpsed in half-shadow. That the trick worked is a testament to Coppola’s uncanny ability to turn disaster into success in what was a notoriously troubled shoot. As for Brando, whose early career had such a radical impact on film, his late appearances in blockbusters like Apocalypse Nowconfirmed his new status as a kind of sacred monster of Hollywood cinema. (Showing in the original release version.)