Not one but two hair-raising jungle adventures arrive on DVD today: Christian Bale stars in Werner Herzog's Rescue Dawn, and Francis Ford Coppolla goes mad little by little in Hearts of Darkness, the incredible chronicle of the making of Apocalypse Now. Also available on DVD this week: the indie gem Colma: The Musical and In Between Days, a mesmerizing film from Korea.
1. Rescue Dawn
Werner Herzog's Rescue Dawn is that rarest of beasts, a powerful fiction based on fact that sacrifices neither storytelling nor the truth. Christian Bale stars in the true story of Dieter Dengler, an American military pilot who is shot down in Vietnam and captured by Vietcong guerrillas. One of the most rousing and overlooked releases of 2007.
2. Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
Paramount
Released for the first time on DVD, Eleanor Coppola's riveting documentary chronicles the making of Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, revealing a film plagued by extraordinary circumstances that nearly destroyed the life and career of the celebrated director. The Two Disc set includes the brand-new doc Coda: Thirty Years Later.
3. Colma: The Musical
Lionsgate Films
You might expect a musical about teenagers in a suburb south of San Francisco where the majority of the population is dead to be an ironic tongue-in-cheek affair, but first-time filmmaker Richard Wong's marvelous indie film Colma: The Musical plays it straight. The depiction of heartbreak on screen is honest and true, even -- and especially when -- the leads break into song.
4. In Between Days
Kino
So Yong Kim's critically acclaimed debut film In Between Days depicts the story of a teenage South Korean immigrant, Aimie, who finds it difficult to settle in her new North American surroundings. When Aimie falls for her best friend Tran, she struggles to understand her new feelings and make the transition from friendship to love.
