Francis Ford Coppola has been making the rounds talking about “Apocalypse Now” for weeks. Ever since it was revealed that the filmmaker decided to go back to the editing bay one last time on his classic war film, he’s discussed the ins and outs of the various versions of the film, while also discussing why the upcoming ‘Final Cut’ is the definitive cut. But recently, speaking to Collider, Coppola didn’t just discuss the film but decided to shed some light on what it was like filming with two legendary icons, Dennis Hopper and Marlon Brando. And yes, it’s about as strange as you might imagine.
For decades, stories of Marlon Brando’s, uh, eccentricity have been floated about in interviews and reports. And according to Coppola, the Oscar-winning actor had methods that helped him with his performance that he’s never seen before, dating back to their time together on “The Godfather.”
“Vittorio Storaro, he said let’s get him up there on Friday and we’ll just start fooling around. Brando had an interesting habit,” revealed Coppola. “The first thing he would do, I knew this from ‘The Godfather,’ when he came in to do the shot…the first thing he’ll do to me is go [moves his hand slowly up his chest]. What he’s doing is, he’s asking where the line cuts. When he did that, he then proceeded to act with only that part of him. Whatever he did that would be good and interesting, he should be sure to have it there…”
He continued, “Vittorio, brilliantly, just put him in darkness and just had a little patch of light. Well, Brando saw that, and he proceeded to use that little patch of light as a prop. We were all in it together, but the two great innovators in that thing were Vittorio by choosing to just show a little of him, and Brando by working it as part of his performance.”
As for Hopper, the filming of “Apocalypse Now” took place after he had established himself as a revolutionary filmmaker and creative type that was pushing the boundaries of American cinema. Oh yeah, and it also occurred at a time when Hopper was probably a big fan of drugs. But for Coppola, he says that drugs were never part of his regimen, except for marijuana, which had a surprising effect on him.
“I never took any drugs in my life at all except for some grass,” Coppola said. “I found that the effect that the grass would have on me is interesting. One, it would make me extremely focused, so if I was trying to evaluate a script or write a script, I wasn’t thinking of all the things where my feelings were hurt about this or I was worried about that.”
He added, “I’m sure grass affects different people in different ways. For me, I tended to be very focused. If I smoked a joint, I couldn’t fall asleep. I’d want to work. And often, I stayed up all night trying to rewrite a script. I’ve had cocaine, but I found it very unpleasant. It’s too much.”
Of course, that doesn’t explain what caused Hopper’s incredible (presumably drug-fueled performance) on the film. About that, the filmmaker said, “In terms of Dennis Hopper, God knows what he was doing.”
“Apocalypse Now: Final Cut” is in select theaters now and will arrive on 4K and Blu-ray tomorrow.