Francis Coppola (photos are presented in the article) is a famous American producer, film director, screenwriter, one of the most prominent directors of contemporary landmark films. He is the owner of six Golden Oscar statuettes, two Golden Palm Branch prizes and many other awards of American cinema.
Francis Ford Coppola: biography
The director was born on April 7, 1939 in the city of Detroit (Michigan). The family of hereditary Italians of the Coppola dynasty soon after the birth of Francis moved to New York. The child grew painful, suffered polio, rarely left home. 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 nicknamed him Scientist. Nevertheless, after school, Francis entered Hofstra University in the drama department. It was interesting to study, and he already decided to devote himself to the theatrical art, but his father intervened, who wanted his son to become an engineer. It didn’t come to a conflict in the family, he managed to convince his father, 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 Festival.
Carier start
In 1959, Francis Ford Coppola graduated from the Hofstra School and enrolled in the School of Motion Picture Arts at the University of California. The graduate's thesis was a short film entitled "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 aspiring director made the film “The Battle Beyond the Stars,” which became an adaptation of the Soviet science-fiction motion picture “The Sky Is Calling”. The debut was successful, and the leadership began to entrust Francis with more responsible projects.
The director’s full-fledged work was the movie 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 peculiar visiting card of Coppola. After the apparent success of the movie, producer Roger Corman instructed the director to create a concept for a horror film, inexpensive to produce, but a spectacular horror. Francis Coppola outlined the idea of the film and wrote theses of the script, according to which a working version was created. So there was a horror film "Fear" with Jack Nicholson in the title role.
First Oscar
Then the director made three films one after another: "You are now a big boy", "Rainbow Finian" and "Rain People". Following them, he wrote the script for the motion picture "Patton" about the participation of 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 Academy Award, a golden figurine was awarded to him for the best original script.
In one way or another, all these works of Coppola were marked by prestigious awards, and on the approach was already his main film "The Godfather", the idea of which the director hatched for a long time. In 1972, the premiere of films.
It was a grandiose adaptation of the novel of the same name by the writer Mario Piozo. The film starred Marlon Brando, a Hollywood superstar, then still young Al Pacino and James Caan, a former classmate of Coppola 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, later Francis Coppola created two more films, “The Godfather 2” (1974) and “The Godfather 3” (1990).
Commercial calculation in the cinema
The story of Vito Corleone in Hollywood began the fashion for sequels and other related stories. Each successful film project was replicated several times with minor changes, until the film ceased to generate income.
Another global project
In 1979, Francis Ford Coppola, whose films already occupied a separate niche in American cinema, proceeded to create the epic military drama Apocalypse Today. The film was dedicated to the Vietnam War and was staged based on the work of the writer Joseph Conrad.
The film was shot over a year and a half in the Philippines, during which time a lot of things happened. Actor Martin Sheen had a heart attack, Marlon Brando was addicted to soft drugs, and Coppola himself was not averse to smoking weed. Nevertheless, the film was released on time and won the Golden Palm Branch prize at the Cannes Film Festival. In addition, Apocalypse Today has won a number of nominations, including an Oscar.
Dracula
In 1992, the premiere of the next masterpiece of Coppola. This time the film was dedicated to the legendary Romanian ruler Vlad Tepes, who is better known as Count Dracula.
The film starred Gary Oldman, Anthony Hopkins, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves. Bram Stoker's fantastic work looked impressive on the big screen. Thanks to special multi-color filming, the film received three Academy Award.
Filmography
During his career, the director has created more than forty full-length films, many of which are included in the annals of American cinema. The following is a sample list of his works.
- "Tonight - will surely happen" (1962), script, direction;
- "Corridor and Entertaining Girls" (1962), script, direction;
- Madness 13 (1963), director, scriptwriter;
- "Fear" (1963), co-producer;
- "You are now a big boy" (1966), scriptwriter, director;
- "Rainbow Finian" (1968), director;
- "People of the Rain" (1969), scriptwriter, director;
- Patton (1970), screenwriter;
- The Godfather (1972), screenwriter, director;
- American Graffiti (1973), producer;
- "Conversation" (1974), scriptwriter, director, producer;
- The Godfather 2 (1974), director, scriptwriter, producer;
- Apocalypse Today (1979), director, screenwriter, producer, music author;
- Black Horse (1979), producer;
- “From the bottom of my heart” (1982), scriptwriter, director;
- Outcasts (1983), director;
- Fighting Fish (1983), scriptwriter, director, producer;
- "Cotton Club" (1984), director, screenwriter;
- "Peggy Sue Married" (1986), director;
- "Gardens of stones" (1987), director, producer;
- The Godfather 3 (1994), scriptwriter, director, producer;
- "Dracula" (1992), director, scriptwriter, producer;
- "Mary Shelley" (1994), producer;
- Suicide Virgins (1997), producer;
- Sleepy Hollow (1999), producer;
- Jeepers Creepers (1999), producer;
- "Marie Antoinette" (2006), producer;
- "Youth without Youth" (2007), director, scriptwriter;
- Between (2011), scriptwriter, director.
Currently, Francis Coppola, whose filmography is ready to replenish with new paintings, is working on the next script, he is full of creative forces.
And the director spends all his free time in his own vineyards, which he acquired for the production of elite wine-making products.