History Creator / FrancisFordCoppola

* ''The Cotton Club''

* ''Film/{{Jack1996}}''

** Coppola himself expresses this view many times in his own interviews in terms of how he sees his own career and his characters. He notes that to him the gangsters of ''The Godfather'' were like characters from Italian Opera, and that he's drawn to characters who are obsessive, determined and committed to a vision.

** Coppola himself expresses this view many times in his own interviews in terms of how he sees his own career and his characters. He notes that to him the gangsters of ''The Godfather'' were like characters from Italian Opera.

Recent projects include ''Film/NewYorkStories'' with fellow famed (and Oscar-winning in their own right) directors Creator/WoodyAllen and Creator/MartinScorsese, ''Film/YouthWithoutYouth'' and ''Tetro''. He now publishes magazines and makes wine and lives in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco.

* CreatorBreakdown: On ''Apocalypse Now'', Coppola lost massive amounts of weight, became estranged from his wife (after having an affair with a production assistant), and attempted suicide. A few years later, Coppola lost his son Gio in a boating accident while filming ''Gardens of Stone''. Coppola became extremely depressed by Gio's death and considered quitting directing, though he eventually bounced back.
* CreatorKiller: ''One From the Heart'' (which even earned the nickname ''One Through the Heart'' for this), though he's still made somewhat high profile projects compared to most victims of this trope. Its failure did kill his independent production studio though. On the commentary, Coppola is still proud of his film, believing it was WorthIt.
* FriendToAllChildren: Very close to his own kids, and enjoys working with children and teens as well. He's cited this as the main reason he signed on to ''Film/TheOutsiders'' and ''Film/{{Jack|1996}}''.
* HeAlsoDid: Before breaking into directing, he co-wrote the scripts for ''Film/IsParisBurning'' and ''Film/{{Patton}}'', the latter earning him an Oscar. He also wrote the 1974 adaptation of ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'', which wasn't produced until ''The Godfather'' became a smash hit. Coppola also funded the release of Kevin Brownlow's restoration of Abel Gance's ''Napoleon'' out of his own pocket, kick-starting the film restoration trend of the '80s and '90s.

* MagnumOpusDissonance: Critics regularly list ''The Godfather'' Parts I and II among the greatest movies ever, but Coppola seems to regard them as basically [[MoneyDearBoy paycheck films]]. Ask Coppola for his favorite and he'll usually name ''Apocalypse Now'', ''The Conversation'' or ''The Rain People''.
* OldShame: Pretty much all of Coppola's screenwriting work except ''Patton''; he's especially adamant that his script for ''[[Film/TheGreatGatsby1974 The Great Gatsby]]'' was ruined by ExecutiveMeddling. He doesn't have fond memories of ''The Cotton Club'' either, due to the tremendously difficult production triggered by his feud with Robert Evans.
* ProductionPosse: Robert Duvall, Creator/JamesCaan, Frederic Forest, Teri Garr, Creator/NicolasCage and Creator/DianeLane were his most frequent repeat collaborators.
* TroubledProduction: He became a lightning rod for those -- ''Film/TheGodfather'' (Paramount's executives frequently complained with him), ''The Cotton Club'' (script issues, budget rising, clashing with the star), ''One from the Heart'' (ballooned budget and filming problems) and most infamously, ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' -- aka "Apocalypse ''When''?" or "Apocalypse Forever" -- a case so famous that it has its own documentary dedicated to it, ''Hearts of Darkness''.
** Coppola himself summed it up by saying "My film is not about Vietnam, it '''[[IAmTheNoun is]]''' Vietnam" and famously explaining that "We had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little we went insane."
** It's important to point out that despite this, ''Apocalypse Now'' was a critical and box-office success.

* AuteurLicense: Got it with ''The Godfather'', lost it somewhat after ''One From the Heart'' bombed and caused him to file bankruptcy. How much he still has this has varied from project to project since then until the past decade when he was able to fund his own films. He's recently taken to using profits from his lucrative winery to making personal films, solving the problem for himself seemingly, he's becomes highly prolific of late.
* AuthorAppeal: His main reason for making ''Film/TuckerTheManAndHisDream'' was his father owned a Tucker. GeorgeLucas produced it for, surprisingly, the same reason - his father also owned a Tucker.

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* ''Film/{{Patton}} (Screenwriter only - He shared the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay with Edmund H. North)

* ''Film/Jack1996''

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* ProductionPosse: Robert Duvall, Creator/JamesCaan, Frederick Forest and Teri Garr were his most frequent repeat collaborators.

'''Francis Ford Coppola''' (April 7, 1939-) is a famed American film director/screenwriter/producer, one of the paragons of The NewHollywood and best known for such works as ''Film/TheGodfather'' trilogy and ''Film/ApocalypseNow''.

* CreatorBreakdown: On ''Apocalypse Now'', Coppola lost massive amounts of weight, became estranged from his wife (after having an affair with a production assistant), and attempted suicide. A few years later, Coppola lost his son Gio in a boating accident while filming ''Gardens of Stone''. Coppola became extremely depressed after Gio's death and considered quitting directing.

Recent projects include ''Film/NewYorkStories'' with fellow famed (and Oscar-winning in their own right) directors Creator/WoodyAllen and Creator/MartinScorsese, ''YouthWithoutYouth'' and ''Tetro''. He now publishes magazines and makes wine and lives in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco.

Those were his most famous works. His career stumbled with ''One from the Heart'', an expensive flop which nearly bankrupted Zoetrope. Nonethless, Coppola remained prolific throughout TheEighties, releasing ''Film/PeggySueGotMarried'', featuring his nephew Creator/NicolasCage. He also directed ''TheOutsiders'' and ''Literature/RumbleFish'', two "pet projects" of his, and ''Film/TuckerTheManAndHisDream'', largely because [[AuthorAppeal his father owned a Tucker]]. ''Film/TheOutsiders'' launched the careers of more than a few familiar actors now. In TheNineties he went more commercial with films such as ''Film/BramStokersDracula'', ''Film/{{Jack|1996}}'' and ''Film/TheRainmaker''.

* CreatorBacklash: Pretty much all of Coppola's screenwriting work except ''Patton''; he's especially adamant that his script for ''Film/TheGreatGatsby1974'' was ruined by ExecutiveMeddling. He doesn't have fond memories of ''The Cotton Club'' either, due to the tremendously difficult production triggered by his feud with Robert Evans.

* HeAlsoDid: Before breaking into directing, he co-wrote the scripts for ''Film/IsParisBurning'' and ''Film/{{Patton}}'', the latter earning him an Oscar. He also wrote the 1974 adaptation of ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'', which wasn't produced until ''The Godfather'' became a smash hit.

After doing low-budget films in the 1960s and early '70s, his breakthrough was winning an Academy Award for his screenplay of ''Film/{{Patton}}''. Creator/GeorgeLucas was hired to be his assistant. The two founded Zoetrope International Pictures together in 1971. Coppola's breakthrough film was 1969's ''The Rain People'', which was a box office flop, but impressed Paramount executives enough to tap him as director for ''Film/TheGodfather''.

After doing low-budget films in the 1960s and early '70s, his breakthrough was winning an Academy Award for his screenplay of ''Film/{{Patton}}''. Creator/GeorgeLucas was hired to be his assistant. In 1972 ''Film/TheGodfather'' was a critical and huge commercial success, and with that recognition, Coppola shot George Lucas to fame for producing his ''Film/AmericanGraffiti'' and ''Film/{{THX 1138}}''. In 1974 he directed ''Film/TheGodfather Part II'', and ''Film/TheConversation'' in the same year. The production of ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' was an absolute nightmare for everyone who worked on it, but the film is widely regarded today by film critics as a masterpiece.

Those were his most famous works. In TheEighties he released ''Film/PeggySueGotMarried'', featuring his nephew Creator/NicolasCage. He also directed ''TheOutsiders'' and ''Literature/RumbleFish'', two "pet projects" of his, and ''Film/TuckerTheManAndHisDream'', largely because [[AuthorAppeal his father owned a Tucker]]. ''Film/TheOutsiders'' launched the careers of more than a few familiar actors now. In TheNineties he went more commercial with films such as ''Film/BramStokersDracula'', ''Film/{{Jack|1996}}'' and ''Film/TheRainmaker''.

* MagnumOpusDissonance: Critics regularly list ''The Godfather'' Parts I and II among the greatest movies ever, but Coppola seems to regard them (especially the sequels) as basically [[MoneyDearBoy paycheck films]]. Ask Coppola for his favorite and he'll usually name ''Apocalypse Now'', ''The Conversation'' or ''The Rain People''.

'''Francis Ford Coppola''' is a famed American film director/screenwriter/producer, one of the paragons of The NewHollywood and best known for such works as ''Film/TheGodfather'' trilogy and ''Film/ApocalypseNow''.

'''Francis Ford Coppola''' is a famed American film director/screenwriter/producer, best known for such works as ''Film/TheGodfather'' trilogy and ''Film/ApocalypseNow''.

Those were his most famous works. In TheEighties he released ''Film/PeggySueGotMarried'', featuring his nephew Creator/NicolasCage. He also directed ''TheOutsiders'' and ''Literature/RumbleFish'', two "pet projects" of his, and ''Film/TuckerTheManAndHisDream'', largely because [[AuthorAppeal his father owned a Tucker]]. ''TheOutsiders'' launched the careers of more than a few familiar actors now. In TheNineties he went more commercial with films such as ''Film/BramStokersDracula'', ''Film/{{Jack|1996}}'' and ''TheRainmaker''.

Recent projects include ''NewYorkStories'' with fellow famed (and Oscar-winning in their own right) directors Creator/WoodyAllen and Creator/MartinScorsese, ''YouthWithoutYouth'' and ''Tetro''. He now publishes magazines and makes wine and lives in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco.

* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: Coppola felt that Mario Puzo deserved most of the credit for ''Film/TheGodfather'', so it's known as ''Mario Puzo's The Godfather''. He also named his ''Dracula'' adaptation ''Bram Stoker's Dracula''. This is also, as he explains, driven by his desire to distinguish his original screenplays(which he feels are more personal) from adaptations. One exception seems to be ApocalypseNow which is an adaptation of Creator/JosephConrad's ''Literature/HeartOfDarkness'' but is retitled and regarded as a Coppola movie.

* BerserkButton: In the DVDCommentary, Coppola is ''very'' defensive of his choice to cast his daughter Sofia in the third ''Godfather'' film. The much-criticized casting choice was due to Winona Ryder ducking out of the role day before shooting began (and Coppola being having hard demands to stay on time and budget), and Coppola had to scramble to fill it. It's said to be a poor idea to bring it up in his presence.