francis ford coppola Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Memories can be hazy things. Did Francis Ford Coppola really question the necessity of The Godfather Part II? Did he really want Martin Scorsese to direct the sequel, rather than himself? Referring to The Godfather, Coppola told Esquire: "The ending was clear and Michael has corrupted himself - it was over. So I didn't understand why they wanted to make another Godfather." He then made the executives at Paramount Pictures an offer they could refuse: "I said, 'What I will do is help you develop a story. And I'll find a director and produce it.' They said, 'Well, who's the director?' And I said, 'Young guy, Martin Scorsese.' They said, 'Absolutely not!' He was just starting out."

What an amusing, colorful anecdote, offering fresh insight into the making of a classic film! Except, er, it's not so fresh, since Coppola told Peter Biskind the same thing for his 1998 book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls. In the book, Coppola said that after he recommended his friend to Robert Evans, then a studio executive, Evans replied: "Absolutely not! Marty Scorsese is a horrible choice. Over my dead body." Coppola eventually agreed to do the picture when he was offered one million dollars.

As it happens, I've been working my way through the magnificent Coppola Restoration versions of the Godfather films on DVD, which includes Robert DeNiro's audition for The Godfather. Six months after The Godfather opened, Scorsese and DeNiro were filming Mean Streets. What if Scorsese had followed that up with The Godfather Part II instead of Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore?

Francis Ford Coppola may never again craft a classic like The Godfather, but after years spent toiling on bland studio fare – as well as 2007's ambitious, muddled Youth Without Youth – the director regains his mojo with Tetro, a saga of familial strife and Oedipal conflict equally indebted to '60s euro cinema and the theatrical traditions of Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. An independently financed gem, Coppola's first self-penned film since 1974's The Conversation is shot in lustrous black and white and marked by an old-school formal proficiency that's highlighted by an endlessly intriguing and expressive frame. It's also rife with echoes of the past, in terms of its cinematic forbearers – including The Godfather, and its focus on the shadow cast by titanic father figures on sons – as well as its narrative proper, which concerns the reunion in Buenos Aires of 18-year-old Bennie (newcomer Alden Ehrenreich) and his older brother Tetro (Vincent Gallo), the latter of whom up and left home years prior on a writing sabbatical and was never heard from again. As is slowly revealed, his departure was spurred by both men's father Carlo (Klaus Maria Brandauer), a world-renowned symphony conductor whom Tetro disdainfully refers to as "The Great Man" and whose stature, and accompanying egomaniacal behavior, caused an unspecified rift that hasn't yet healed.

It was inevitable -- as soon as Francis Ford Coppola rethought a trip to Cannes for Tetro, you knew that a trailer would undoubtedly appear. But how would a brief look into Coppola's first original story since The Conversation, and next indie step after Youth Without Youth, turn out?

Stunning, dark, and just a little bit confusing, if the trailer is any indication. I'd say it's a welcome strangeness and indicative of an interesting cinematic ride, but Movieline isn't so sure: "You can see the danger here amid the flashes of beauty and passion, reminding viewers all too well of the never-ending hangover of perfection." Indeed, it's not your usual trailer, mixing distinct artistic images and a few splashes of color in the story of familial struggle.

Vincent Gallo's Tetro is much like any other Gallo, but it also seems like he was made for Coppola's black and white eye --ripped out of Buffalo and finally finding a home in a timeless, color-free Buenos Aires. But check out the trailer and weigh in below: Has the Tetro trailer piqued your interest?

You may have heard that Francis Ford Coppola had said no to screening Tetro out of competition and had decided to keep his latest film out of Cannes. Well, all that's changed now. Variety reports that Olivier Pere countered Coppola's refusal with a new offer, one that proved too irresistible. Now the Vincent Gallo film will open the 41st edition of Directors' Fortnight, which also boasts I Love You Phillip Morris amongst a number of international selections. For the unlucky Cannes-free people: Coppola will be distributing the film through his American Zoetrope, but no release date has been announced.

Meanwhile, the cast of The Company Men, the drama that has Ben Affleck getting sacked, keeps growing. First Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones signed on, and now Variety reports that Craig T. Nelson and Maria Bello are joining the film, which is currently kicking off in Boston. Company focuses on a man who suffers from a lay-off due to corporate downsizing, and has to work at his brother-in-law's (Costner) construction site to make ends meet. Bello will play the Vice President of human resources who cans Affleck, while Coach plays the global conglomerate's CEO. Get ready to see a lot more of Mr. T. Nelson. You might have noticed that he's also in The Proposal, and, he's rumored to be part of that Parenthood TV project.

Some B films are loved because they're just so bad, but some are loved because they're just so good -- a palpable talent resting beneath the haze of badness.

I'm not talking about the guys who spend years honing their technique and then head back to the world of B to make a flashy feature (Grindhouse), but those who are born out of that wonderfully bad wasteland -- the men and women who kickstart their career with blood, chills, and pulp, and then grow into high-buzz filmmakers and talent. Not everyone can start with a critical masterpiece, so what can be better than a little silly fun? It certainly beats a crappy first movie that no one wants to see.

Read on to learn of seven big Hollywood names who kicked off their careers with the wonder of B-movie filmmaking. These directors have talent, awards, and a healthy serving of critical success, but it all came out of began with our beloved B's. Maybe they knew how to start their careers, or maybe Roger Corman simply has the best eye for killer talent. Whatever the case, their first films didn't define their careers, and in fact, set them on their way to success.

The 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival, announced its massive 150-film lineup this week. The world's oldest film festival (Federico Fellini showed his film La Strada here when he was just a pup will open with Peter Bratt's La Mission -- starring brother Benjamin Bratt -- and closes with Alexis dos Santos' Unmade Beds, with Marc Webb's 500 Days of Summer -- with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel -- as a Centerpiece. Francis Ford Coppola will receive the festival's directing award (previously awarded to Mike Leigh, Spike Lee and Werner Herzog) and will hopefully screen a trailer and some bits and pieces from his upcoming Tetro. Robert Redford will be honored with the Peter J. Owens award (for actors whose work exemplifies brilliance, independence and integrity). James Toback will receive the Kanbar Award for excellence in screenwriting, and the festival will screen his new documentary Tyson. Other guests include Evan Rachel Wood and Elijah Wood (no relation).

For starters, I just want to make it perfectly clear that I have nothing against Winona Ryder. Veronica Sawyer will remain as one of my favorite characters of all time, and her Bjork on Rock N' Roll Jeopardy has yet to be matched. But, let's be honest, period pieces were never her thing (maybe with one exception ... but that's a big maybe). In 1992 Francis Ford Coppola released Bram Stoker's Dracula, and I've never been able to look at her the same way again.

Dracula is hardly a perfect movie, and by no means am I dumping all the blame on Winona's doorstep. But all the beautiful costumes and references to La Belle et la Bête couldn't save what was once described as a "fruitcake of a movie"; and the cherry on that fruitcake is this scene between Gary Oldman (as the bloodsucking Prince of Wallachia) and Ryder as Mina Harker. What should have been romantic and emotional (not to mention hot) is for me the cinematic equivalent of watching an amateur lightweight get into the ring with Muhammad Ali (and can you guess who the lightweight is?). Ryder's delivery is stilted and awkward, Oldman is hamming it up for all it's worth, and I will forever be cringing in my seat.

Dracula Fun Facts (Courtesy of IMDB):

• In an attempt to elicit more emotion, director Francis Ford Coppola shouted "whore" and "slut" at Winona Ryder while filming the scene when Van Helsing catches Mina with Dracula.
  
  
• Prince Vlad's scream after he drives his sword into the cross is not the voice of Gary Oldman. Lux Interior, lead singer of punk band The Cramps, recorded the scream and it was dubbed in.
  
  
• Earnings from the film was enough to save Zoetrope (Francis Ford Coppola's studio) from bankruptcy after suffering from financial difficulties and liabilities of $27 million over the past 3 years.

Take me away from all this Twitter!

Cinematical has been passed along these images which are making the rounds and demonstrate how Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather looks following a print restoration before its run at the New York Film Forum beginning tomorrow (the second one has been included after the jump).

Christopher Campbell made the initial mention of the plans for showing that film and Part II over the next few weeks, leading up to their Blu-Ray release on September 23rd (fans of Part III will just have to tough it out). Mind you, these comparsion shots are indicative of only the print, and not necessarily what those discs will look like.

When was the last time you saw a short film in the theater? I don't mean an 85-minute animated movie; I mean an actual short, like they give separate Oscars to. Otherwise known as a short subject, defined (by the Academy) as anything with a running time less than 40 minutes. Chances are, unless you attend film festivals, go to see the toured screenings of Oscar shorts, or bought a ticket to Paris, Je T'Aime, it's been awhile since you actually saw a short film on a big screen.

Or, maybe I should specify that it's likely been awhile since you purposefully went to see a specifically timed screening of a short film or compilation of shorts at the theater. Technically some ads for Coca-Cola and other companies, the ones made by novice filmmakers as part of a competition or something, count as shorts. And, I'm fully aware that some arthouse cinemas, such as NYC's IFC Center, run a short film in place of pre-show commercials. But as far as I can tell, such shorts are not specifically advertised as screening at a designated time. Sure, you can go on the IFC Center's website and find out that Erik Rosenlund's Looking Glass is the short currently being shown (as it was this past week when I saw Trouble the Water there), but for most people (myself included), it's a surprise. And I doubt anyone has trekked to IFC just to see that particular film, unless anyone is a huge aficionado of frightening black and white Swedish animation.

New York City's Film Forum will be screening both The Godfather and The Godfather Part II during a special three week engagement beginning September 12. And yes, it's a big deal. The first two installments of Francis Ford Coppola's trilogy are often featured in repertory houses, sure, but Film Forum's presentation is of newly restored 35mm prints, which were produced under the direction of Coppola and cinematographer Gordon Willis and the supervision of film historian and master preservationist Robert A. Harris. The Godfather will run solo from September 12 through September 18, then The Goffather Part II will run solo from September 19 through September 25, and finally, back-to-back screenings will be featured from September 26 through October 2 (the double feature does, unfortunately, require separate admissions). As far as I can tell, neither of these digitally restored classics includes new computer-generated characters or backgrounds, and obviously the guns are likely to still be guns rather than walkie talkies.

If you can't make it to NYC for any of these shows, Paramount is apparently also releasing the restored films in other select cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco. Or, you can check out the new versions as part of "The Godfather, the Coppola Restoration collection," which also includes a remastered Godfather Part III, on DVD or Blu-Ray beginning September 26 23 (the DVDs may be purchased in a 5-disc box set, which includes two discs of special features, or separately, in case you like to forget about Part III; the Blu-Ray versions seem to be only offered together in a 4-disc set).