AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center

FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA REDUX
Dec. 1 - Jan. 11

Francis Ford Coppola's place in film history is secure. Regardless of whether or not he ever directs another movie, the man whose skill and vision gave us THE GODFATHER films, THE CONVERSATION, and APOCALYPSE NOW will always rank among the great screen artists. How exciting for his adherents, then, to learn that Coppola's first directorial effort in 10 years, YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH, based on Romanian philosopher Mircea Eliade's novella and starring Tim Roth and Bruno Ganz, will arrive sometime in the new year. AFI Silver takes a look back at Coppola's masterpieces, plus a few rarities that deserve a second look, in anticipation of the director's intriguing new offering.

Films include ONE FROM THE HEART, APOCALYPSE NOW, THE GODFATHER, THE GODFATHER: PART II, THE CONVERSATION, THE COTTON CLUB, RUMBLE FISH, and TUCKER: THE MAN AND HIS DREAM.

THE CONVERSATION

"Few films have captured so accurately the terrifying moment when a man becomes the victim of his own technology." -Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Gene Hackman is riveting as audio snoop Harry Caul, who has a crisis of conscience when he suspects a recent job may implicate him in corporate skullduggery and murder. This winner of the 1974 Palme d'Or at Cannes was nominated for three Academy Awards (it lost Best Picture to Coppola's other nominee that year, THE GODFATHER: PART II).

DIR/SCR/PROD Francis Ford Coppola. US,1974, color, 113 min. RATED PG

ONE FROM THE HEART

While struggling to bring APOCALYPSE NOW to the screen, Coppola turned to the old-fashioned movie musical for relief, set in an intentionally artificial soundstage version of Las Vegas. Teri Garr and Frederic Forrest star as working class couple, each dallying with an exotic suitor (Raul Julia and Nastassja Kinski) before reuniting. Tom Waits and Crystal Gayle's music provide emotional persuasiveness.

DIR/SCR Francis Ford Coppola; SCR/PROD Armyan Bernstein; PROD Gray Frederickson and Fred Roos. US, 1982, color, 107 min. RATED R

#12 on AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movie Quotes; #28 on AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies Coppola's screen version of the Vietnam experience is a unique cinematic corollary to the real thing. "This isn't a film about Vietnam. This film is Vietnam," he said. Battle-weary Martin Sheen accepts a top-secret mission to travel upriver into Cambodia to "terminate with extreme prejudice" Marlon Brando, a presumably insane AWOL Green Beret. Eight Oscar nominations, winning for Vittorio Storaro's masterful cinematography and Walter Murch's sound editing. Palme d'Or, 1979 Cannes Film Festival.

DIR/SCR/PROD Francis Ford Coppola; SCR John Milius. US,1979, color, 153 min. RATED R

#2 on AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movie Quotes; #3 on AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies

Coppola's adaptation of Mario Puzo's bestseller about post-WWII rivalry among the New York Mafia's five families stands alone as both art and entertainment. Coppola's cinematic vision is in full flower, from the then controversial casting of Marlon Brando and Al Pacino to the deep hues of Gordon Willis's photography to the moving score by Nino Rota. The film earned 11 Oscar nominations, including Al Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall in the Supporting Actor category, with wins for Best Picture, Screenplay and Actor for the iconic Brando.

DIR/SCR Francis Ford Coppola; SCR Mario Puzo, based on his novel; PROD Albert S. Ruddy. US, 1972, color, 175 min. RATED R

THE GODFATHER: PART II

#32 on AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies.
Coppola returns to parts of Puzo's novel not included in the earlier film. Vito Corleone (now played by Robert DeNiro) establishes his family's place in the rough and tumble immigrant ghetto of old New York through a mix of savagery and smarts. The Corleones' rise is eloquently crosscut with their fall, as new don Al Pacino weathers crushing setbacks and familial disintegration. Eleven Oscar nominations and six wins, including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and Supporting Actor for DeNiro.

DIR/SCR/PROD Francis Ford Coppola; SCR Mario Puzo, based on his novel. US, 1974, color, 200 min. RATED R

THE COTTON CLUB

In Jazz Age New York, rival gangsters battle for supremacy in the streets and live the high life in Harlem's famed Cotton Club. Richard Gere earns the good graces of mob boss Dutch Schultz (James Remar) after saving him from a hit, then courts danger by playing around with the boss's teenage girlfriend, Diane Lane. Interweaving story lines include turns by Gregory and Maurice Hines, Nicholas Cage, Bob Hoskins and Fred Gwynne.

DIR/SCR Francis Ford Coppola; SCR William Kennedy, after the novel by James Haskins; PROD Robert Evans. US,1984, color, 127 min. RATED R

An "art film for teenagers"is how Coppola described his second S.E. Hinton adaptation.
Matt Dillon is a wanna-be hoodlum who idolizes his brother, former gang leader Mickey Rourke. Dennis Hopper is their wayward father who can't shake the bottle. Daringly shot in b&w, with splashes of color. Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Christopher Penn and Nicholas Cage shine in supporting roles, while The Police's Stewart Copeland contributed the film's memorable score.

DIR/SCR Francis Ford Coppola; SCR S.E. Hinton, based on her novel; PROD Doug Claybourne and Fred Roos. US, 1983, b&w/color, 94 min. RATED R

TUCKER: THE MAN AND HIS DREAM

Jeff Bridges dreams of building the safest and most reliable family automobile in 1948-with fancy amenities such as seat belts, disk brakes and other safety features-while the big Detroit automakers and lobbyists look for ways to ruin him. Memorable turns from Joan Allen, Martin Landau and Dean Stockwell as Howard Hughes.

DIR Francis Ford Coppola; SCR Arnold Schulman and David Seidler; PROD Fred Fuchs and Fred Roos. US, 1988, color, 110 min. RATED PG