As the 1991 documentary film Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse makes painfully clear, the production of the epic 1979 Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now nearly destroyed the life of its director, Francis Ford Coppola, who was never quite the same afterward. Apocalypse Now marked the end of the golden period of the director's career. Following Apocalypse Now, Coppola seemingly became more interested in breaking new technological ground and defying Hollywood conventions than creating characters and telling stories.