Francis Coppola: biography and filmography

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Francis Coppola (photos are presented in the article) is a famous American producer, film director, screenwriter, one of the most notable directors of epoch-making films of our time. He is the owner of six gold statuettes "Oscar", two prizes "Palme d'Or" and many other awards of American cinema.

Francis Ford Coppola: biography

The director was born on April 7, 1939 in Detroit (Michigan). The family of hereditary Italians of the Coppola dynasty soon after the birth of Francis moved to New York. The child grew up sickly, had polio, rarely left the house. In order not to be bored, he organized a puppet theater in one of the rooms and began to arrange performances every evening. Even then, the boy showed the ability to direct.

From a young age, Francis Coppola was interested in science and technology, for which his classmates called him the Scientist. Nevertheless, after school, Francis entered the Hofstra University in the drama department. Learning was fun andhe had already decided to devote himself to theatrical art, but his father intervened, who wanted his son to become an engineer. It didn’t come to a conflict in the family, the father managed to be persuaded, and in the end Francis Coppola became a film director. His creative path was not strewn with roses, it happened much later, on the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival.

Career start

In 1959, Francis Ford Coppola graduated from the Hofstra School and entered the School of Cinematography at the University of California. The graduation work of the graduate was a short film called "Two Christophers" based on the work of Edgar Allan Poe. Then Francis Coppola began working with Roger Corman, a well-known producer. Under his patronage, the novice director made the film "Battle Beyond the Stars", which became an adaptation of the Soviet science fiction film "The Sky is Calling". The debut turned out to be successful, and the management began to entrust Francis with more responsible projects.

The director's full-fledged work was the film "Madness 13", for which he himself wrote the script. The action-packed thriller about human greed, exorbitant greed for money, about lack of spirituality has become a kind of Coppola's calling card. After the film's apparent success, producer Roger Corman commissioned the director to create a concept for a horror film, an inexpensive-to-produce but effective horror film. Francis Coppola outlined the idea of the film and wrote the thesis of the script, which was used to create a working version. This is how the horror movie "Fear" with Jack appeared. Nicholson starring.

First Oscar

Then the director made three films one after the other: "You're a big boy now", "Finian's Rainbow" and "Rain People". Following them, he wrote the script for the film "Patton" about the participation of the American General George Patton in World War II. The main role in the film was played by Hollywood actor George Scott. For the film "Patton" the director received his first "Oscar", a gold statuette was awarded to him for the best original screenplay.

All these works of Coppola, one way or another, were marked by prestigious awards, and his main film "The Godfather" was already on the way, the idea of which the director had been hatching for a long time. The film premiered in 1972.

It was a grand adaptation of the novel of the same name by the writer Mario Pioso. The film starred Marlon Brando, a Hollywood superstar, the then-young Al Pacino, and James Caan, a former classmate of Coppola's at the university. With a meager budget of $ 7 million, the picture showed a box office of 248 million in the first weeks of hire. Such success could not go unnoticed, subsequently Francis Coppola created two more films, "The Godfather 2" (1974) and "The Godfather 3" (1990).

Commercial settlement in movies

With the story of Vito Corleone in Hollywood, the fashion for sequels and other related stories began. Each successful film project was replicated several times withsmall changes until the film stopped making money.

Another global project

In 1979, Francis Ford Coppola, whose films had already occupied a separate niche in American cinema, set about creating the epic military drama "Apocalypse Now". The film was dedicated to the Vietnam War and was based on the work of writer Joseph Conrad.

The film was filmed for a year and a half in the Philippines, during which a lot of things happened. Actor Martin Sheen had a heart attack, Marlon Brando was addicted to light drugs, and Coppola himself was not averse to smoking weed. Nevertheless, the film was released on time and won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. In addition, "Apocalypse Now" received a number of nominations, including an Oscar.

Dracula

In 1992 another Coppola masterpiece premiered. This time the film was dedicated to the legendary Romanian ruler Vlad the Impaler, who is better known as Count Dracula.

The film starred Gary Oldman, Anthony Hopkins, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves. The fantastic work of Bram Stoker looked impressive on the big screen. Thanks to the special multicolor shooting, the film won three Oscars.

Filmography

During his career, the director has created more than forty feature films, many of which have entered the annals of the Americancinematography. Below is a sample list of his work.

• "Tonight is sure to happen" (1962), screenplay, direction;
• "The Bellboy and the Girls Having Fun" (1962), screenplay, direction;
• "Madness 13" (1963), director, writer;
• "Fear" (1963), co-producer;
• "You're a Big Boy Now" (1966), writer, director;
• "Finian's Rainbow" (1968), director;
• "Rain People" (1969), writer, director;
• "Patton" (1970), writer;
• "The Godfather" (1972), writer, director;
• "American Graffiti" (1973), producer;
• "Conversation" (1974), writer, director, producer;
• "The Godfather 2" (1974), director, writer, producer;
• "Apocalypse Now" (1979), director, writer, producer, composer;
• "Black Horse" (1979), producer;
• "From the Heart" (1982), writer, director;
• "Outcasts" (1983), director;
• "Rumble Fish" (1983), writer, director, producer;
• "Cotton Club" (1984), director, screenwriter;
• "Peggy Sue Got Married" (1986), director;
• "Rock Gardens" (1987), director, producer;
• "The Godfather 3" (1994), writer, director, producer;
• "Dracula" (1992), director, writer, producer;
• "Mary Shelley" (1994), producer;
• "The Virgin Suicides" (1997), producer;
• "Sleepy Hollow" (1999), producer;
• "Jeepers Creepers" (1999), producer;
• "Marie Antoinette" (2006), producer;
• "Youth Without Youth" (2007), director, writer;
• "Between" (2011), writer, director.

Currently, Francis Coppola, whose filmography is ready to be replenished with new paintings, is working on another script, it is full of creative powers.

And the director spends all his free time on his own vineyards, which he acquired for the production of elite wine products.