Francis Ford Coppola
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Following the middling reception of 1984’s THE COTTON CLUB, director Francis Ford Coppola found himself slowly but steadily pulling out of the debt spiral that began with 1982’s ONE FROM THE HEART. Coppola could not afford to rest on his laurels, needing to work consistently to pay off said debt. As his next feature film…
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There is a club in downtown Los Angeles called the Cicada Club, and stepping inside its doors is like crossing the threshold into another era. Inside these walls, it’s as if time froze around 1944—the art deco architecture is pristine and polished, the live music is appropriately old-timey, and the clientele are impeccably dressed in…
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Notable Festivals: San Sebastian (OCIC Award, FIPRESCI Prize) Inducted into the Criterion Collection: 2017 In 1983, director Francis Ford Coppola found himself in Tulsa, OK, and in the middle of a creative hot streak. Midway into the production of THE OUTSIDERS (1983), Coppola approached the novel’s author S.E. Hinton, and asked if she had any…
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I, like millions of other American kids, read S.E. Hinton’s teen angst novel The Outsiders in a high school English class and identified with it. My favorite part of reading a novel in English class, however, was getting to watch the movie adaptation afterwards, which would always eat up a couple days of class. Naturally,…
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Notable Festivals: Berlinale, San Francisco, Toronto (in retrospective/restored screenings) The word “irony” is not lost on director Francis Ford Coppola. One could argue that Coppola’s entire career is ironic, due to him becoming a symbol of the very same studio system that he initially sought to oppose. After entering the pantheon of great American filmmakers…
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Notable Festivals: Cannes (Palme d’Or, FIPRESCI Prize) Academy Award Wins: Best Cinematography, Best Sound Inducted into the National Film Registry: 2000 Some films are to be cursed from their very inception. They taunt their makers with Herculean obstacles, only to break their spirits when they fall far short of their goals. Some of these filmmakers…
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Academy Award Wins: Best Supporting Actor, Best Art Direction, Best Director, Best Score, Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay Inducted into the National Film Registry: 1993 As a general rule, sequels are pale imitations of the original films whose stories they continue. In the modern Hollywood climate where franchised properties rule supreme (and nine out of…
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Notable Festivals: Cannes (Palme d’Or, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury-Special Mention) Inducted into the National Film Registry: 1995 I have a strange, contentious relationship to director Francis Ford Coppola’s feature film THE CONVERSATION (1974). It is widely regarded amongst film circles as a masterpiece in its own right, and I tend to agree. However, there’s…
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Academy Award Wins: Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Picture Inducted into the National Film Registry: 1990 What more is there to possibly say about 1972’s THE GODFATHER that hasn’t already been said? It is undoubtedly, inarguably one of the greatest films ever made. It’s a goddamn institution of cinema that dares you to find…
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Notable Festivals: San Sebastian A year after releasing his first big-budget studio film (1968’s FINIAN’S RAINBOW), director Francis Ford Coppola was back in theaters with a markedly different feature film. Channeling the experimental sensibilities and understated narratives of the French New Wave, 1969’s THE RAIN PEOPLE was a subtle, introspective road picture that eschewed all…
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Full disclosure- I’m not a big fan of musicals. Something about people spontaneously bursting into song and dance makes me profoundly uncomfortable, and I can’t explain it. Naturally, I approached my viewing of FINIAN’S RAINBOW (1968), director Francis Ford Coppola’s third true feature film, with a large degree of hesitation. While I don’t plan on…
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Notable Festivals: Cannes (in Competition) It’s an inarguable fact that director Francis Ford Coppola benefited greatly from the nascent days of the film school institution. Making a film wasn’t as commonplace as it was now– back in the 60’s, your film was remarkable for the fact that you even made it. Coppola was a different…