April Filmmaker of the Month: Francis Ford Coppola – The Spool

We examine the game changing highs and ambitious lows of Francis Ford Coppolas six decade career.

For Francis Ford Coppola, every film he makes is a sweeping epic, often ending with the protagonist world weary and broken, the sole survivor of a hundred fateful decisions. Often these decisions come from good intentions: Michael Corleone to protect his familys interests, Captain Willard in service to his country, The Cotton Clubs Dixie Dwyer because hes in love. We see early on that the choices they make are not going to end well, but the journey to get to those various gut punches and lonely defeats are so absorbing and immersive that were willing to see it through.

Even the smaller, less Coppola-like movies, such as The Outsiders, Rumble Fish and Peggy Sue Got Married, are set in wonderfully tangible universes, where were not watching a film so much as stepping through a portal into another time, where every detail, right down to the cracked leather of Matt Dillons greaser jacket, is note perfect. Whatever one may think of Coppolas filmography as a whole, it would be disingenuous to describe him as a lazy filmmaker. Even his notorious flops, like the aforementioned The Cotton Club and One From the Heart, were crafted with care and a loving eye for style, place and setting.

And then theres Jack. Well get to that eventually.

Similar to the previously covered Joel Schumacher (though obviously with a far better hit to miss ratio) Coppola is also a filmmaker whos never been afraid to try his luck at different genres, despite varying results. Hes tried horror (Dementia-13, the sumptuous Bram Stokers Dracula), war is hell dramas (Apocalypse Now, Gardens of Stone), teen dramas (The Outsiders, Rumble Fish), fantasy/sci-fi (Captain Eo, Youth Without Youth), thrillers (The Conversation), and even a musical (One From the Heart). Even the failures are interesting failures, often victims of bloated budgets and clashing egos rather than poor filmmaking.

But also, theres Jack. Look, we cant not talk about it.

Though we simply dont have the bandwidth to give all of Coppolas films the attention they deserve, we hope to offer you fresh perspectives on a filmography that is more consistently solid than that of his counterparts George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, but lacks the same devoted fanbase. It stands as a reminder that hes more than just Sofias dad.

Plus, he made Jack. But nobodys perfect.

Read the rest of our Francis Ford Coppola coverage below:

The Conversation is the best of a Coppola hot streak

Gena Radcliffe is the co-host of the award-winning (not really) horror podcast Kill by Kill, and has also written for F This Movie, Anatomy of a Scream, and Grim magazine (although the Spool is her pride and joy). Her pitch graveyard and "pieces that don't really belong anywhere else" can be found at genaradcliffe.com, and you can see her slowly losing her mind at Twitter under @porcelain72.

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April Filmmaker of the Month: Francis Ford Coppola - The Spool

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero