Francis Ford Coppola
by Manuel D. Mancilla
Early Life
He was born on April 7, 1939 in Detroit, USA,
but he grew up in a New York suburb
His father, Carmine Coppola, was a composer
and musician. His mother, Italia Coppola, had
been an actress
Was trained in music and became proficient on
the tuba and won a musical scholarship to the
New York Military Academy.
Caught polio when he was a child. he practiced
puppetry and made 8mm features edited from home movies while he was sick
Graduated with a degree in drama from Hofstra University, and did graduate work at
UCLA where he worked as an all purpose assistant to Roger Corman
Married Eleanor Jessie Neil in 1963 and had 3 kids: Gian-Carlo Coppola (deceased),
Roman Coppola, and Sofia Coppola
Early Career
Became a training assistant for Roger Corman, Coppola worked as soundman, dialogue director, associate producer under Corman.
The first feature film Coppola directed was Dementia 13 (1963) a horror thriller
which he directed with a $40,000 budget. The movie did well enough to earn
back its budget and gained a cult following.
During the next four years, Coppola was involved
in a variety of script collaboration such as writing
an adaptation of This Property is Condemned and
screenplays for Is Paris Burning? (1966) and
Patton(1970).
Coppola won an Academy Award for Best
Adapted Screenplay on Patton
Collaborated with George Lucas’s THX1138 (1971), American Graffiti (1973)
Lucas Directed and Coppola Produced on both films.
The Godfather
Released in 1972 and starred Marlon Brando,
Al Pacino and James Caan directed by Francis
Ford Coppola and produced by Albert S. Ruddy.
Based on Mario Puzo's 1969 novel of the same
name.
Became one of the highest-grossing movies
in history $245,066,411 and won 3 Oscars:
Best Actor in a Leading Role - Marlon Brando
Best Picture
Best Screenplay - Francis Ford Coppola
PLOT: The aging founder of an organized crime
dynasty transfers control of his clandestine
empire to his reluctant son.
Trailer
The Godfather Part II
Released in 1974 and Starred Al Pacino, Robert
De Niro and Robert Duvall. Francis Ford Coppola
produced, directed, and co-wrote the film with Mario
Puzo
It won 6 Oscars, including:
Best Director – Francis Ford Coppola
Best Picture - Francis Ford Coppola
Best Screenplay - Francis Ford Coppola
PLOT: The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s
New York is portrayed while his son, Michael, expands
and tightens his grip on his crime syndicate stretching
from Lake Tahoe, Nevada to pre-revolution 1958 Cuba.
Trailer
The Conversation
Released in 1974 and starred Gene Hackman,
John Cazale and Allen Garfield and produced and
directed by Francis Ford Coppola
The Conversation was nominated for 3 oscars
but did not win any. (It lost Best Picture to The
Godfather: Part II)
PLOT: A paranoid and personally-secretive surveillance
expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects
that a couple he is spying on will be murdered.
Trailer
Apocalypse Now
Released in 1979 and starred Martin Sheen,
Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall, directed
and produced by Francis Ford Coppola. Adaptation
of Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness.
Won 2 oscars for Best Cinematography and Best
Sound. The film was shot in the Philippines which
caused many problemS: (Martin Sheen suffered a
heart attack, and extreme weather destroyed several
expensive sets, Marlon Brando showed up overweight
onset and the movie premier was postponed several
times to complete post-production.)
PLOT: During the on-going Vietnam War, Captain Willard
is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to
assassinate a renegade Green Beret who has set
himself up as a god among a local tribe.
Trailer
The Godfather Part III
Released in 1990, starred Al Pacino, Diane Keaton
Andy Garcia and Sofia Coppola. Was directed and
produced by Francis Ford Coppola.
Although a financial success, Critics often consider it
the weakest movie in the Godfather Trilogy. Coppola and
Puzo originally wanted the title it The Death of Michael
Corleone, as they considered the movie an epilogue and
not part of The Godfather series.
PLOT: In the midst of trying to legitimize his business dealings
in 1979 New York and Italy, aging mafia Don Michael
Corleone seeks to vow for his sins while taking a young
protégé under his wing.
Film Style
Frequently uses long tracking shots wide-angle shots that create a sense of
scope and allow audiences to feel the magnitude of scenes
Frequently casts Robert Duvall, the late John Cazale, Nicolas Cage (Coppola's
Nephew), Diane Keaton, Al Pacino, Matt Dillon, Harrison Ford, Laurence
Fishburne and Marlon Brando
Coppola's films usually deal with the members, structures, dynamics, rules and
rituals of families. The families in his films come in
all shapes and sizes: those created by birth
(The Godfather) social forces (The Outsiders), as
well as those made from random
circumstance (Apocalypse Now).
Trivia
Coppola's daughter Sofia Coppola is involved in the film industry. Apart from acting, she's
also a Director, her most notable film is Lost in Translation(2003) which won Sofia
Coppola the oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Coppola's son Roman Coppola is also a director, He has directed mostly music videos for
artists like Daft Punk, Green Day, and multiple videos for Phoenix and The Strokes
Recently he has gone back to making independent films
with his latest film being Tetro (2009)
Coppola and George Lucas established American Zoetrope,
an independent film production company in 1969
Coppola has collaborated with Akira Kurosawa, Coppola
was executive producer for Kurosawa's Kagemusha (1980)
Apart from collaborating with George Lucas on American Graffiti, both were executive
producers for The Black Stallion (1979)
Awards
Coppola has won many awards throughout his career including 3 Oscars
Apart from Academy Awards Coppola has
won:
BAFTA Best Direction award for Apocalypse Now
Palme d'Or from Cannes Film Festival for Apocalypse
Now and The Conversation
Coppola has also won Golden Globes for Apocalypse
Now (Best Director and Best Original Score) and
The Godfather (Best Director and Best Screenplay)
Quotes
"My movie (Apocalypse Now) is not about Vietnam... my movie is Vietnam."
"What the studios want now is "risk-free" films but with any sort of art you have
to take risks."
"The easiest way to make sure a movie is successful is to make a traditional
movie very well. If you make a slightly unusual movie or [don't] exactly follow
the rules as everyone sees them, then you get in trouble or, like with
Apocalypse, wait 20 years to hear that was really good."
"I just feel that at a certain point you have to go back to the beginning again.
The best thing for me at this point in my life is to become a student again and
make movies with the eyes I had when I was enthusiastic about it in the first
place."