Francis Ford Coppola

Performer

Francis Ford Coppola

Director in the Nutevio catalogue.

Born
7 April 1939
Age
87
Active
1963 — 2024
Known for
The Godfather, The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980, The Godfather Part II
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The essay

Reading Francis Ford Coppola

Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.

Why this filmmaker matters

Francis Ford Coppola has 0 directed films in the Nutevio catalogue. Francis Ford Coppola (born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most celebrated and influential film directors. He epitomized the group of filmmakers known as the New Hollywood, which included George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Woody Allen and William Friedkin, who emerged in the early 1970s with unconventional ideas that challenged contemporary filmmaking. He co-authored the script for Patton, winning the Academy Award in 1970. His directorial fame escalated with the release of The Godfather in 1972. The film revolutionized movie-making in the gangster genre, garnering universal laurels from critics and public alike. It went on to win three Academy Awards, including his second, which he won for Best Adapted Screenplay, and it was instrumental in cementing his position as one of the prominent American film directors. Coppola followed it with an equally successful sequel The Godfather Part II, which became the first ever sequel to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The film received yet higher praises than its predecessor, and gave him three Academy Awards—for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture. In the same year was released The Conversation, which he directed, produced and wrote. The film went on to win the Palme d'Or at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival. His next directorial venture was Apocalypse Now in 1979, and it was as notorious for its lengthy and troubled production as it was critically acclaimed for its vivid and stark depiction of the Vietnam War. It won his second Palme d'Or at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival. Although some of Coppola's ventures in the 1980s and early 1990s were critically lauded, Coppola's later work has not met the same level of critical and commercial success as his '70s films.

Signature style

The recognisable elements are visual style, rewatchability, originality. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same eye, re-tuned for different registers. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is staged.

Legacy

Coppola set terms other filmmakers now work against: the structures, the pacing and the refusal to explain. Awards bodies have often been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.

Best known for

Catalogue work still being written up by our editors.

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Quick facts

Born
7 April 1939
Age
87
Active
1963 — 2024
Films directed
0
In the Nutevio catalogue
Known for
The Godfather, The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980, The Godfather Part II
Directing score
6.6
Nutevio editorial metric
Collection appearances
0
Across the library
Films rated 8+
0

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