In his recent autobiography, Stories I Only Tell My Friends, Rob Lowe recounts the advice Martin Sheen imparted for working with director Francis Ford Coppola: Don’t let him make you do anything you’re uncomfortable with. Coppola’s sojourn into the jungle for Apocalypse Now is an infamous example of Hollywood hubris that led its entire crew—especially Sheen—into, uh, the heart of darkness. But if Coppola’s unorthodox methods shattered the fragile egos of most of its cast, they probably didn’t seriously rattle Dennis Hopper, an actor whose notoriously ferocious appetites and reputation for fast living kept him unemployed for a good part of the 1970s. Apocalypse Now runs as a part of “Dennis Hopper: A Screen Remembrance,” the AFI Silver’s unimaginatively named series that looks back on a truly unique body of work. In one of his most memorable performances, Hopper plays an unnamed photojournalist who, like the film itself, strikes a perfect balance between brilliance and madness.

The film shows at 8:45 p.m. at the AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. $11.