![]() ![]() It is too flawed to come close to the accomplishments of The Godfather (1972) or its sequel, both among the most towering and influential films of the 20th Century. But until its altered ending, it is fundamentally the same film, better in parts than as a whole. Twelve minutes shorter, it rearranges some key episodes, eliminates a few minor scenes and trims a line here or there. ![]() And the word 'death' signals its dark inevitability, although the meaning of that word is slipperier than it first appears. Calling it a coda emphasises its connection to the earlier instalments, and even hints at its lesser stature. It now has the title Mario Puzo's The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. ©Sony Pictures Classics YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH, director Francis Ford Coppola (center), on set, 2007.Hindsight alone would tell us how seriously the film has been undervalued, even without Coppola's newly restored, re-edited and renamed version. ©Sony Pictures Classics THE RAINMAKER, from left: Matt Damon, director Francis Ford Coppola on set, 1997, (c) Paramount YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH, director Francis Ford Coppola, on set, 2007. ![]() ©Paramount GODFATHER, Marlon Brando, Francis Ford Coppola, 1972 GARDENS OF STONE, director Francis Ford Coppola, cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth, on-set, 1987, (c) TriStar Pictures / COTTON CLUB, Francis Ford Coppola, 1984 THE GODFATHER, James Caan, Marlon Brando, Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino, John Cazale, 1972 HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER'S APOCALYPSE, Francis Ford Coppola on-location directing APOCALYPSE NOW, 1979, documentary released 1991 THE RAINMAKER, director Francis Ford Coppola (standing), Roy Scheider (in witness box) on set, 1997, (c) Paramount THE OUTSIDERS, director Francis Ford Coppola on set, 1983, © Warner Brothers THE GODFATHER, director Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Duvall, Marlon Brando on set, 1972 TWIXT, from left: Elle Fanning, director Francis Ford Coppola on set, 2011 THE RAINMAKER, director Francis Ford Coppola (front) on set, 1997, (c) Paramount COTTON CLUB, Francis Ford Coppola, 1984 THE RAINMAKER, director Francis Ford Coppola (seated), Danny DeVito on set, 1997, (c) Paramount THE RAINMAKER, director Francis Ford Coppola on set, 1997, (c) Paramount YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH, director Francis Ford Coppola, on set, 2007. Nonetheless, Coppola - having been responsible for directing three of the greatest films in cinema history - remained forever a legend.įog City Mavericks Photos THE COTTON CLUB, director Francis Ford Coppola on set, 1984, (c) Orion THE RAINMAKER, director Francis Ford Coppola, 1997. The quality of his directing fell off throughout the 1980s and 1990s, however, and the big studios - remembering his colossal box-office failures - became leery of backing his more personal projects, preferring instead to employ him as a hired gun on the likes of "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (1992) and "The Rainmaker" (1997), which helped the director pay off his enormous debts. Renowned for his generosity with other filmmakers, Coppola served as a fierce promoter of others' films, championing the work of Wim Wenders, Paul Schrader and Akira Kurosawa, while playing an important part in the restoration of Abel Gance's classic silent film, "Napoleon" (1927). ![]() Unbridled by his ambition and enthusiasm, and perhaps obsessive to the point of being manic, Coppola infused a fervent creative energy into his early work, culminating in "Apocalypse Now" (1979), a journey into his own heart of darkness that irrevocably altered his career and may have even caused permanent psychological damage. Known primarily for his successful "Godfather" trilogy - "The Godfather" (1972), "The Godfather, Part II" (1974) and "The Godfather, Part III" (1990) - Coppola was the most celebrated of the Young Turks - a group of filmmakers who emerged in the early 1970s that included George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma and William Friedkin. One of America's most erratic, energetic and controversial filmmakers, Francis Ford Coppola enjoyed stunning triumphs and endured monumental setbacks before resurrecting himself, Phoenix-like, to begin the process all over again. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |