Francis Coppola: biography and filmography

Francis Coppola (photos are presented in the article) - the 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 figurines "Oscar", two prizes "Golden palm branch" and many other awards of American cinema.

Francis Ford Coppola: Biography

Born director 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 morbid, suffered from poliomyelitis, rarely left the house. In order not to be bored, he organized a puppet theater in one of the rooms and began to organize 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 classmates called him the Scientist. Nevertheless, Francis after school entered the University of Hofstra at the Department of Drama. It was interesting to study, and he had already decided to devote himself to theatrical art, but the father intervened, who wanted his son to become an engineer. Before the conflict in the family it did not happen, the father managed to convince, and eventually Francis Coppola became a film director. His creative way 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 Hofstra University and entered the School of Cinematography at the University of California. The diploma work of the graduate was a short film titled "Two Christopher" by the work of Edgar Allan Poe. Then Francis Coppola began working with Roger Corman, a well-known producer. Under his patronage, the beginning director directed the film "Battle outside the stars", which became an adaptation of the Soviet fantastic film "The Sky Calls." The debut turned out to be successful, and the leadership began to charge Francis with more responsible projects.

Full-time work of the director was the film "Madness 13", for which he himself wrote the script. Thriller thriller about human greed, excessive greed for money, about lack of spirituality became a kind of visiting card of Coppola. After the obvious success of the film, producer Roger Corman instructed the director to create the concept of a horror film inexpensive in production, but a spectacular horror. Francis Coppola outlined the idea of the film and wrote the thesis of the script, on which the working version was created. So there was a horror film "Fear" with Jack Nicholson in the title role.

The first "Oscar"

Then the director shot one after another three films: "You are now a big boy", "Rainbow Finian" and "People of the rain." Next to them wrote a script for the movie "Patton" about the participation of the American General George Patton in the Second World War. The main role in the film was played by Hollywood actor George Scott. For the film "Patton" the director received his first Oscar award, a gold statuette was presented to him for the best original script.

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

It was a grandiose adaptation of the eponymous novel by writer Mario Piozot. The film starred Marlon Brando, the superstar of Hollywood, then still young Al Pacino and James Caan, a former classmate of Coppola at the university. With a miserly budget of $ 7 million, the picture showed box office fees of 248 million in the first weeks of the rental. 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

From the story of Vito Corleone in Hollywood, the fashion for sequels and other related subjects began. Each successful film project was replicated several times with minor changes, until the film ceased to generate revenue.

Another global project

In 1979, Francis Ford Coppola, whose films already occupied a separate niche in American cinema, began to create an epic military drama "Apocalypse Now." The film was dedicated to the war in Vietnam and was based on the works of writer Joseph Conrad.

The film was filmed for a year and a half in the Philippines, during which time much happened. The actor Martin Sheena had a heart attack, Marlon Brando was addicted to light drugs, and Coppola himself was not averse to smoking tobacco. Nevertheless, the film in time went into the rental and won the prize "Golden palm tree" at the film festival in Cannes. In addition, "Apocalypse Now" was awarded several nominations, including the "Oscar".

Dracula

In 1992, the premiere of the next masterpiece Coppola. This time the film was dedicated to the legendary Romanian ruler Vlad Tepes, who is better known as the Count of Dracula.

The film featured Gary Oldman, Anthony Hopkins, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves. The fantastic work of Bram Stoker looked impressive on the big screen. Thanks to special multicolour shooting, the film received three Oscar awards.

Filmography

During his career, the director created more than forty full-length films, many of which were included in the annals of American cinema. Below is an approximate list of his works.

• "Tonight is sure to happen" (1962), script, direction;
• "Corridor and entertaining girls" (1962), script, direction;
• "Madness 13" (1963), director, script writer;
• "Fear" (1963), co-producer;
• "You are now a big boy" (1966), script writer, director;
• "Rainbow Finian" (1968), director;
• "People of the rain" (1969), scriptwriter, director;
• "Patton" (1970), the author of the script;
• "The Godfather" (1972), scriptwriter, director;
• "American Graffiti" (1973), producer;
• "Conversation" (1974), scriptwriter, director, producer;
• "Godfather 2" (1974), director, scriptwriter, producer;
• "Apocalypse Now" (1979), director, screenwriter, producer, author of music;
• "Black Horse" (1979), producer;
• "With all my heart" (1982), scriptwriter, director;
• "The Outlaw" (1983), director;
• "Boytsovskaya Rybka" (1983), scriptwriter, director, producer;
• "Club Cotton" (1984), director, screenwriter;
• "Peggy Sue got married" (1986), director;
• "Gardens of stones" (1987), director, producer;
• "Godfather 3" (1994), scriptwriter, director, producer;
• "Dracula" (1992), director, script writer, producer;
• "Mary Shelley" (1994), producer;
• "Virgin-suicide" (1997), producer;
• "Sleepy Hollow" (1999), producer;
• "Jeepers Creepers" (1999), producer;
• "Marie Antoinette" (2006), producer;
• "Youth without youth" (2007), director, script writer;
• "Between" (2011), script writer, director.

Currently, Francis Coppola, whose filmography is ready to replenish with new paintings, is working on another script, he is full of creativity.

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