- The famed director has a cameo in his own highly regarded film ‘Apocalypse Now’ — as a television journalist covering the Vietnam War.
- Francis Ford Coppola was born in Detroit, Michigan AKA “Motor City”.
- Francis Ford Coppola has directed a whopping twenty-three different feature films over the years.
- Coppola’s recent release ‘Megalopolis’ polarized critics and did not perform as well as hoped. It was a self-proclaimed magnum-opus but ultimately an extremely experimental film and seemingly inaccessible to a larger audience; similar to ‘Twixt’, an earlier arthouse project by Coppola that also failed to wow critics or impress at the box office.
- He is the proud owner of “Francis Ford Coppola Winery”. www.francisfordcoppolawinery.com
- Francis Coppola has won an impressive six Academy Awards and received fifteen nominations. His other awards, include but are not limited to: Golden Globes, Oscars, Grammys, BAFTAS, and Emmys — in total he’s been nominated for one-hundred and sixty awards and won fifty-four.
- Martin Sheen wasn’t Coppola’s first choice to play Capt. Willard in ‘Apocalypse Now’: he first sought Steve McQueen for the role; however the actor refused because of the extensive shoot in the jungle. Harvey Kietel was the next actor to almost secure the role, but in the end – Martin Sheen was the one who managed to snag it.
- Before “making it big” Coppola earned a BA in Drama from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.
- Maybe talent doesn’t skip a generation?
Fracis Ford Coppola has a daughter that’s proven herself to be a cinematic visionary in her own right – Sophia Coppola.
The younger Coppola’s responsible for a number of acclaimed pictures, and she’s received critical praise for her attention to detail, deep introspective plots, and keen eye for cinematography: Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides, and Marie Antoinette — are a few of her brilliant films.
- Marlon Brando was extremely difficult to direct on the set of ‘Apocalypse Now’ and was paid two million for a single month of work. One caveat — his portrayal of Lt. Kurtz turned out to be the exact kind of genius required for the role.
“The script might have been able to carry on without the look, but Brando didn’t have too much regard for the page either. Looking to inhabit the character more, Brando refused to memorise most of his lines, often going on different rambling tangents throughout the film” [1]
Tim Coffman, Far Out Magazine
Maybe more of a Brando fact, I apologize.
- Coppola produced ‘American Graffiti’ an award winning film by George Lucas that helped Lucas’ career burgeon, bringing the once relatively unknown director into the public consciousness.
- ‘Apocalypse Now’ is almost unanimously hailed as one of the finest pieces of cinema ever crafted. It’s production was very publicized and has been referred to as a “nightmare to shoot”.
“It [Apocalypse Now] is a masterpiece that Coppola and company pushed themselves to the brink to make. It’s no secret that the film was a nightmare to put together; filmmakers Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper, and Eleanor Coppola even made a documentary about the problematic production entitled Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse.” [2]
Blaine Turner, MovieWeb.com
- Coppola’s gangster-epic ‘The Godfather’ was the highest grossing film of 1972,, clearing 250 – 292 million at the box office. Based on Mario Puzo’s top-selling novel of the same name – ‘The Godfather’ introduced the world to Al Pacino’s nearly unrivaled acting prowess and further cemented Brando as a movie star in the eyes of the public.
- The filmmaker’s style is known for elaborate productions that border on chaos, often involving numerous extras, film-shoots in challenging locales, off-the-cuff filmmaking; improvisational dialogue, last minute casting changes, alterations to the script, etc.
- Francis Ford Coppola is a prolific writer; he has at least 22 screenwriting credits (including co-writing) and is responsible for penning the script to the motion picture adaptation of F. Scott. Fitzgerald’s novel ‘The Great Gatsby’.
I’m currently halfway through the novel; so far it’s a rather pleasing read – engrossing even!
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Sources:
[1] A Match Made In Hell: Marlon Brando in ‘Apocalypse Now’
Tim Coffman, FarOutMagazine.co
Sun 23 April 2023 19:30, UK
[2] Why Apocalypse Now’s Production Was Such a Disaster
Blaine Turner, May 25/ 2023
MovieWeb.com