Producer


Somewhere (2010) (executive producer)

Tetro (2009) (producer,director,writer)

Youth Without Youth (2007) (producer,director,writer)

The Good Shepherd (2006) (executive producer)

Marie Antoinette (2006) (executive producer)

Forever Is a Long, Long Time (2004) (executive producer)

Kinsey (2004) (executive producer)

Lost in Translation (2003) (executive producer)

Jeepers Creepers II (2003) (executive producer)

"Platinum" (2003) TV series (executive producer) (unknown episodes)

Assassination Tango (2002) (executive producer)

Pumpkin (2002) (executive producer)

In My Life (2002) (TV) (executive producer)

Suriyothai (2001) (executive producer)

Jeepers Creepers (2001) (executive producer)

No Such Thing (2001) (executive producer)

CQ (2001) (executive producer)

Sleepy Hollow (1999) (executive producer)

Goosed (1999) (executive producer)

The Third Miracle (1999) (executive producer)

The Virgin Suicides (1999) (producer)

The Florentine (1999) (producer)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1999) (TV) (executive producer)

"First Wave" (executive producer) (1 episode, 1998)

Lanai-Loa (1998) (producer)

Moby Dick (1998) (TV) (executive producer)

Outrage (1998) (TV) (executive producer)

Buddy (1997) (executive producer)

The Odyssey (1997) (TV) (executive producer)

Survival on the Mountain (1997) (TV) (executive producer)

Dark Angel (1996) (TV) (executive producer)

Jack (1996) (producer,director)

Kidnapped (1995) (TV) (executive producer)

Haunted (1995) (executive producer)

Tecumseh: The Last Warrior (1995) (TV) (executive producer)

White Dwarf (1995) (TV) (executive producer)

My Family (1995) (executive producer)

Frankenstein (1994) (producer)

Don Juan DeMarco (1994) (producer)

The Secret Garden (1993) (executive producer)

The Junky's Christmas (1993) (producer)

Dracula (1992) (producer,director)

Wind (1992) (executive producer)

The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980 (1992) (producer,director,writer)

The Godfather: Part III (1990) (producer,director,writer)

"The Outsiders" (executive producer) (1 episode, 1990)

Wait Until Spring, Bandini (1989) (executive producer) (uncredited)

Powaqqatsi (1988) (executive producer)

Lionheart (1987) (executive producer)

Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987) (executive producer) (as Francis Coppola)

Gardens of Stone (1987) (producer,director) (as Francis Coppola)

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985) (executive producer) (as Francis Coppola)

Rumble Fish (1983) (executive producer,director,writer)

The Black Stallion Returns (1983) (executive producer)

Koyaanisqatsi (1982) (executive producer)

Hammett (1982) (executive producer)

The Escape Artist (1982) (executive producer) (as Francis Coppola)

Kagemusha (1980) (executive producer: international version)

The Black Stallion (1979) (executive producer)

Apocalypse Now (1979) (producer,director,writer,actor) (as Francis Coppola)

"The Godfather: A Novel for Television" (producer: The Godfather,director,writer) (4 episodes, 1977)

The Godfather: Part II (1974) (producer,director,writer)

The Conversation (1974) (producer,director,writer)

American Graffiti (1973) (producer)

The People (1972) (TV) (executive producer)

THX 1138 (1971) (executive producer)

The Making of 'The Rain People' (1969) (producer)

The Terror (1963) (associate producer,director) (as Francis Coppola)

Tonight for Sure (1962) (producer,director,writer)


Director


Supernova (2000) (uncredited)

The Rainmaker (1997)(writer)

Making 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' (1992) (TV)

New York Stories (1989) (segment "Life without Zoe") (as Francis Coppola) (writer)

Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)

"Faerie Tale Theatre" (1 episode, 1987)

Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) (as Francis Coppola)

Captain EO (1986)(writer)

The Cotton Club (1984) (as Francis Coppola)(writer)

The Outsiders (1983) (as Francis Coppola)

One from the Heart (1982) (as Francis Coppola) (writer)

The Godfather (1972) (writer)

The Rain People (1969)(writer)

Finian's Rainbow (1968)

You're a Big Boy Now (1966)(writer)

Dementia 13 (1963) (as Francis Coppola)(writer)

The Bellboy and the Playgirls (1962)(writer)

Nebo zovyot (1960) (as Thomas Colchart) (re-edited version with new footage)


Writer


The Great Gatsby (1974) (screenplay)

Patton (1970) (screen story) (screenplay)

Paris brûle-t-il? (1966) (screenplay)

This Property Is Condemned (1966) (writer) (as Francis Coppola)

The Haunted Palace (1963) (additional dialogue) (uncredited)


Actor


L'enquête Corse (2004) (as Francis Coppola)

The Young Racers (1963) (uncredited)

War Hunt (1962) (uncredited)


As Himself


Untitled Greg MacGillivray Surfing Documentary (2010)

"Made in Hollywood: Teen Edition" (1 episode, 2009)

"Jornal Nacional" (1 episode, 2009)

"Tavis Smiley" (2 episodes, 2009)

"Cinema tres" (2 episodes, 2009)

"Días de cine" (1 episode, 2009)

"Le grand journal de Canal+" (1 episode, 2009)

I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale (2009)

The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't (2008)

The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (2007) (TV)

"Up Close with Carrie Keagan" (1 episode, 2007)

Coda: Thirty Years After (2007) (TV)

The Blood Is the Life: The Making of 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' (2007)

In Camera: The Naïve Visual Effects of 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' (2007)

Method and Madness: Visualizing 'Dracula' (2007)

The Costumes Are the Sets: The Design of Eiko Ishioka (2007)

Lights! Action! Music! (2007) (TV)

AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Al Pacino (2007) (TV)

Fog City Mavericks (2007)

The 79th Annual The Academy Awards (2007) (TV)

The Making of 'Marie Antoinette' (2007)

"Sunday Morning Shootout" (4 episodes, 2005-2006)

The Music of Apocalypse Now (2006) (as Francis Coppola)

A Million Feet of Film: The Editing of Apocalypse Now (2006) (as Francis Coppola)

Heard Any Good Movies Lately?: The Sound Design of Apocalypse Now (2006) (as Francis Coppola)

"Corazón de..." (1 episode, 2006)

Celebrating Schlesinger (2006)

The Birth of 5.1 Sound (2006)

Staying Gold: A Look Back at 'The Outsiders' (2005) (as Francis Coppola)

'Rumble Fish': The Percussion-Based Score (2005)

There Is No Direction (2005)

AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to George Lucas (2005) (TV)

"Imagine" (1 episode, 2004)

A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope (2004)

"Dateline NBC" (1 episode, 2004)

Tying the Knot (2004)

"Travel Channel Secrets" (1 episode, 2004)

The 76th Annual The Academy Awards (2004) (TV)

The 2004 IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards (2004) (TV)

Artifact from the Future: The Making of 'THX 1138' (2004)

"Tinseltown TV" (1 episode, 2003)

Dean Tavoularis, le magicien d'Hollywood (2003)

Whether You Like It or Not: The Story of Hedwig (2003)

Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die) (2003) (as Francis Coppola)

A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

On the Set of 'CQ' (2002)

R2-D2: Beneath the Dome (2001) (TV) (uncredited)

Francis Coppola's Notebook (2001)

Breaking the Silence: The Making of 'Hannibal' (2001) (N.Y. Premiere)

Inside the Actors Studio (1 episode, 2001)

Under the Hood: Making 'Tucker' (2000)

Kurosawa: The Last Emperor (1999) (TV)

The Making of 'American Graffiti' (1998) (TV)

"Howard Stern" (1 episode, 1998)

Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1 episode, 1997)

In Search of Dracula with Jonathan Ross (1996) (TV)

Marlon Brando: The Wild One (1996) (TV)

A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995) (TV)

The World of Jim Henson (1994) (TV)

It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein (1994) (TV)

George Lucas: Heroes, Myths and Magic (1993) (TV)

Blood Lines: Dracula - The Man. The Myth. The Movies. (1992) (TV)

Writing with Light: Vittorio Storaro (1992)

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991)

The 63rd Annual The Academy Awards (1991) (TV)

Memory & Imagination: New Pathways to the Library of Congress (1990) (TV)

The Godfather Family: A Look Inside (1990) (TV)

Hollywood Mavericks (1990)

Saturday Night Live (1 episode, 1986)

The Making of 'Captain Eo' (1986) (TV)

Reverse Angle (1982)

The Making of 'One from the Heart' (1982)

"Arena" (1 episode, 1981)

American Mythologies (1981)

"The South Bank Show" (1 episode, 1979)

The 51st Annual The Academy Awards (1979) (TV)

Cultural Celebrities (1979)

"Revista de cine" (1 episode, 1977)

The 47th Annual The Academy Awards (1975) (TV)

The Godfather Comes to Sixth St. (1975)

The Lion Roars Again (1975) (uncredited)

"The Mike Douglas Show" (1 episode, 1974)

The 45th Annual The Academy Awards (1973) (TV)

The Godfather: Behind the Scenes (1971) (uncredited)

Bald: The Making of 'THX 1138' (1971)

The World Premiere of 'Finian's Rainbow' (1968)

Filmmaker (1968)

The Academy Awards


1991 Nominated Oscar Best Director for: The Godfather: Part III (1990)

1991 Nominated Oscar Best Picture for: The Godfather: Part III (1990)

1980 Nominated Oscar Best Director for: Apocalypse Now (1979)

1980 Nominated Oscar Best Picture for: Apocalypse Now (1979)
Shared with:Fred Roos,Gray Frederickson,Tom Sternberg

1980 Nominated Oscar Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for: Apocalypse Now (1979)
Shared with:John Milius

1975 Won Oscar Best Director for: The Godfather: Part II (1974)

1975 Won Oscar Best Picture for: The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Shared with:Gray Frederickson,Fred Roos The movie became the first sequel to win the best picture award.

1975 Won Oscar Best Writing, Screenplay Adapted From Other Material for: The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Shared with:Mario Puzo

1975 Nominated Oscar Best Picture for: The Conversation (1974)

1975 Best Writing, Original Screenplay for: The Conversation (1974)

1974 Nominated Oscar Best Picture for: American Graffiti (1973)
Shared with:Gary Kurtz

1973 Won Oscar Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
for: The Godfather (1972) Shared with:Mario Puzo

1973 Nominated Oscar Best Director for: The Godfather (1972)

1971 Won Oscar Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced
for: Patton (1970) Shared with:Edmund H. North


Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA


1993 Won Saturn Award Best Director for: Dracula (1992)


American Society of Cinematographers


1998 Board of the Governors Award


BAFTA Awards


1980 Won BAFTA Film Award Best Direction for: Apocalypse Now (1979)

1980 Nominated Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music for: Apocalypse Now (1979)
Shared with:Carmine Coppola

1975 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best Direction for: The Conversation (1974)
Best Screenplay for: The Conversation (1974)

Berlin International Film Festival


1991 Berlinale Camera


Cannes Film Festival


1979 Won FIPRESCI Prize Competition for: Apocalypse Now (1979)


1979 Won Golden Palm for: Apocalypse Now (1979) The film was screend as a work in progess.
Tied with Die Blechtrommel (1979).

1974 Won Golden Palm for: The Conversation (1974)

1974 Won Prize of the Ecumenical Jury - Special Mention for: The Conversation (1974)

1967 Nominated Golden Palm for: You're a Big Boy Now (1966)


Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain


1994 CEC Career Award


César Awards, France


1980 Nominated César Best Foreign Film (Meilleur film étranger) for: Apocalypse Now (1979)


DVD Exclusive Awards


2001 Nominated Video Premiere Award Best Audio Commentary for: The Godfather (1972) (Paramount)

2001 Nominated Video Premiere Award Best DVD Audio Commentary for: The Conversation (1974)
For the Widescreen Collection.


David di Donatello Awards


1981 Won David Best Producer - Foreign Film (Migliore Produttore Straniero) for: Kagemusha (1980)
Shared with: George Lucas Tied with Hungaro Film for Angi Vera (1979).

1980 Won David Best Director - Foreign Film (Migliore Regista Straniero) for: Apocalypse Now (1979)


Denver International Film Festival


2003 Lifetime Achievement Award


Directors Guild of America


1998 Lifetime Achievement Award

1991 Nominated DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for: The Godfather: Part III (1990)

1980 Nominated DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for: Apocalypse Now (1979)

1975 Won DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for: The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Shared with:Michael S. Glick (unit production manager) (plaque),Newt Arnold (assistant director) (plaque),
Henry J. Lange Jr. (assistant director) (plaque)

1975 Nominated DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for: The Conversation (1974)

1973 Won DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for: The Godfather (1972)
Shared with:Fred C. Caruso (unit production manager) (plaque),Fred T. Gallo (assistant director) (plaque),
Steven P. Skloot (assistant director) (plaque)


Edgar Allan Poe Awards


1975 Nominated Edgar Best Motion Picture for: The Conversation (1974)


Emmy Awards


1998 Nominated Emmy Outstanding Miniseries for: Moby Dick (1998) (TV)
Shared with:Robert Halmi Sr. (executive producer),Fred Fuchs (executive producer),
Franc Roddam,Kris Noble,Steven R. McGlothen

1997 Nominated Emmy Outstanding Miniseries for: The Odyssey (1997) (TV)
Shared with:Fred Fuchs (executive producer),Nicholas Meyer (executive producer),Robert Halmi Sr. (executive producer),
Dyson Lovell (producer)


Film Society of Lincoln Center


2002 Gala Tribute


Fotogramas de Plata


1994 Won Fotogramas de Plata Best Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera) for: Dracula (1992)

1992 Won Fotogramas de Plata Best Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera) for: The Godfather: Part III (1990)


Golden Globe Awards


1991 Nominated Golden Globe Best Director - Motion Picture for: The Godfather: Part III (1990)

1991 Nominated Golden Globe Best Screenplay - Motion Picture for: The Godfather: Part III (1990) Shared with:Mario Puzo

1985 Nominated Golden Globe Best Director - Motion Picture for: The Cotton Club (1984)

1980 Won Golden Globe Best Director - Motion Picture for: Apocalypse Now (1979)

1980 Won Golden Globe Best Original Score - Motion Picture for: Apocalypse Now (1979) Shared with: Carmine Coppola

1975 Nominated Golden Globe Best Director - Motion Picture for: The Conversation (1974)

1975 Nominated Golden Globe Best Director - Motion Picture for: The Godfather: Part II (1974)

1975 Nominated Golden Globe Best Screenplay - Motion Picture for: The Conversation (1974)

1975 Nominated Golden Globe Best Screenplay - Motion Picture for: The Godfather: Part II (1974) Shared with:Mario Puzo

1973 Won Golden Globe Best Director - Motion Picture for: The Godfather (1972)

1973 Won Golden Globe Best Screenplay for: The Godfather (1972) Shared with: Mario Puzo


The Grammy Awards


1980 Nominated Grammy Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special
for: Apocalypse Now (1979) Shared with: Carmine Coppola


Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards


1975 Won KCFCC Award Best Director for: The Godfather: Part II (1974) Also for The Conversation (1974).

1973 Won KCFCC Award Best Director for: The Godfather (1972)


Moscow International Film Festival


1987 Nominated Golden Prize for: Gardens of Stone (1987)

1983 Nominated Golden Prize for: The Outsiders (1983)


National Board of Review, USA


1997 Billy Wilder Award

1974 Won NBR Award Best Director for: The Conversation (1974)


National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA


1975 Won NSFC Award Best Director for: The Godfather: Part II (1974)


San Sebastián International Film Festival


2002 Won Special 50th Anniversary Award
On occasion of the 50th anniversary of the festival in recognition to his impressive career.

1984 Won FIPRESCI Prize for: Rumble Fish (1983)

1984 Won OCIC Award for: Rumble Fish (1983)

1969 Won Golden Seashell for: The Rain People (1969)


Satellite Awards


2001 Mary Pickford Award


USC Scripter Award


1998 Nominated USC Scripter Award for: The Rainmaker (1997)
Shared with:John Grisham (author)


Venice Film Festival


1992 Career Golden Lion


Writers Guild of America


1980 Nominated WGA Award (Screen) Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
for: Apocalypse Now (1979) Shared with: John Milius

1975 Won WGA Award (Screen) Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium
for: The Godfather: Part II (1974) Shared with: Mario Puzo

1975 Nominated WGA Award (Screen) Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
for: The Conversation (1974)

1973 Won WGA Award (Screen) Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium
for: The Godfather (1972) Shared with: Mario Puzo

1971 Won WGA Award (Screen) Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
for: Patton (1970) Shared with: Edmund H. North

1967 Nominated WGA Award (Screen) Best Written American Comedy
for: You're a Big Boy Now (1966)

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Francis Ford Coppola is cinema’s greatest gambler. He has enjoyed box-office and Oscar triumphs, faced critical brickbats and bankruptcy but always bounced back to defiantly pursue his own sense of cinematic adventure. His reputation would have been assured were it only for the back-to-back masterpieces he made during the 1970s - The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now - one of the greatest runs by any filmmaker in any period of film history. But equally important has been his desire to push boundaries, both in the advancement of technology and in fostering a more European, personal approach to filmmaking within the Hollywood mainstream.

If his stature has been harmed by periods of purely commercial filmmaking and long stretches of cinematic inactivity – his risk taking has extended to magazines, real estate and wine production – his influence is wide ranging. Coppola was the first film-school graduate to make it big within the film industry and his success and chutzpah paved the way for a whole generation of bearded young filmmakers, including George Lucas, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. He has also helped numerous other moviemakers get difficult projects off the ground. His big personality has added much-needed color and flamboyance to an increasingly corporate scene – a film world without Francis Ford Coppola would be a much poorer place indeed.

FROM POLIO TO PATTON

Coppola is the son of a musician, who played flute for Toscanini in the NBC Radio Symphony Orchestra and a former Italian film star. He was a sickly child who escaped the physical limitations caused by polio by playing with home-movie cameras. Consumed by film, in 1960 he enrolled at UCLA cinema department where he became a star pupil. Gaining extra-curricular experience making soft porn with such titles as Tonight for Sure (1962), Coppola worked in various capacities for the king of exploitation films, Roger Corman. It was Corman who granted the fledgling director his feature debut with Dementia 13 (1963), a Gothic horror film so bad that at one point a supposedly scary child corpse actually blinks

Coppola subsequently embarked on a successful career as a screenwriter, penning scripts for Is Paris Burning? (1966), Patton (1970) – for which he won an Oscar – and The Great Gatsby (1974). During this period he directed You’re a Big Boy Now (1966), a fresh, freewheeling rites-of-passage comedy influenced by the nouvelle vague. The movie caused shockwaves in the film-school world when Coppola delivered a finished feature for his Masters thesis. It led to him being offered Finian’s Rainbow (1968), a big-budget musical starring Fred Astaire and Petula Clark that failed to find an audience.

Coppola took his fee from Finian’s Rainbow and ploughed it into making The Rain People (1969), a low-budget movie about a woman (Shirley Knight) who leaves her husband and goes on a journey of self-discovery on the back roads of America. The film, which was made on a shoestring budget by ex-film-school students, including George Lucas, had a loose, improvisatory European feel. Coppola took the equipment and personnel from The Rain People, moved to San Francisco and set up American Zoetrope, which was designed to be a creative haven for young filmmakers far away from the meddling Hollywood establishment. It didn’t start well. The Rain People flopped at the box office and Lucas’s feature debut, THX 1138, was so esoteric that Warner Bros cancelled the deal. Coppola needed a hit and fast.

AN OFFER HE COULDN’T REFUSE

Given Coppola’s poor commercial track record it is difficult to understand why Paramount offered him the chance to work on the movie adaptation of Mario Puzo’s popular gangster novel The Godfather. From the start Coppola fought running battles with Paramount executives over nearly every issue – the biggest controversy was caused by the casting of Marlon Brando, whom the studio viewed as difficult, as crime lord Vito Corleone – and rumors of his dismissal for being out of his depth were rife.

However, Coppola survived to produce one of the masterpieces of American cinema. Elevating a popular, if trashy, novel, he imbued the gangster trappings with a detailed chronicle of a family whose business happens to be organized crime. Both epic and intimate, Coppola’s control over the sprawling story is magnificent – a bravura finale juxtaposes a baptism with brutal murder – but what fascinates is the rituals and rhythms of Italian life and family dynamics. Proving Coppola completely justified, Brando’s casting is a master stroke, matched by equally brilliant performances form Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall and Diane Keaton. Ushering in a new era of blockbuster filmmaking as well as securing Coppola’s financial status and enhancing his reputation, The Godfather is that rare thing: a film that is over three hours long but still leaves you hungry for more.

Following the somewhat less epic The Conversation (1974) Coppola returned to the Corleones with The Godfather Part II. Rather than merely retreading the glories of the first film he created an audacious structure that counterpoints the rise to power of the young Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) with the ascendancy of Pacino’s Michael as the head of the family business 30 years later. It is a deeper, more ambitious film than its predecessor and it garnered six Academy Awards, including three for Coppola as producer, writer and director. In 1990 he made The Godfather Part III for purely financial reasons, with a much older Michael now trying to renounce his life of crime. This film fails to reach the heights of the previous two, but it is better than originally judged – melancholy, autumnal and full of strong moments.

THE DEATH OF A DREAM

After the success of The Godfather Part II Coppola used his newfound power to mount his most expensive and ambitious project. Apocalypse Now, based loosely on Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness, charts the journey of a CIA operative (Martin Sheen) upriver I Cambodia to ‘terminate with extreme prejudice’ the command of Colonel Kurtz, a decorated American soldier who has formed a renegade army in the jungle. After the rigours of jungle shooting – star Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack, the production was beset by typhoons and schedule overruns – and a protracted editing process, Apocalypse Now was unveiled to great acclaim as a work in progress at an emotional premiere at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival, winning the Palme d’Or. Full of hallucinatory images, intellectual philosophizing and memorable vignettes from the theatre of war, Apocalypse Now is ambitious, technically astonishing, breathtaking cinema – uneven, certainly, but frequently blessed with the buzz of brilliance.

Following the eventual success of Apocalypse Now Coppola pursued his dream of turning Zoetrope into a full-scale working studio, but the notion turned sour with One from the Heart (1982), a visually stunning but painfully thin story of love lost then regained. The film’s budget ballooned from US $2 million to US $25 million but was a financial misfire, leaving Coppola to assume huge debts. He was declared bankrupt in 1990.

ART VERSUS COMMERCE

Since One from the Heart, Coppola’s career has been a reaction to the failure of Zoetrope, mixing small personal projects - The Outsiders, Rumblefish (both 1983), Gardens of Stone (1987), Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1987) – with broader, more commercial affairs. Of these The Cotton Club (1984) was an uneven attempt to revisit the gangster glories of The Godfather; Peggy Sue Got Married (1985) was a melancholy time-travel fable; and the less said about risible Robin Williams comedy vehicle Jack (1996) the better. The most interesting of the commercial ventures was Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), starring Gary Oldman as the count, which has a strikingly theatrical feel.

After The Rainmaker (1997), a colorless John Grisham adaptation, Coppola spent nearly a decade trying to get epic science-fiction project Megalopolis off the ground, but the film – about idealism in a futuristic New York – was overtaken by history with the Twin Towers tragedy. Out of the collapse of this project Coppola decided to go small again with Youth Without Youth (2007), a heady exploration of philosophical themes on ageing, identity and communication based on the writings of Romanian author Mircea Eliade. The result was critically savaged, but at least it felt like a Coppola film: visually sumptuous, ambitious and challenging. One of American cinema’s distinctive talents has started to find his voice again.

THE CONVERSATION

In between the first two Godfather movies Coppola made The Conversation, a resonant post-Watergate paranoia thriller based on his own screenplay and inspired by Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-up. The story follows lonely surveillance man Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) who gets involved with the couple whom he has been hired to eavesdrop. A fascinating portrait of a guarded, inward-looking man – brilliantly played by Hackman – the film is also remarkable in its use of sound, a key weapon in Coppola’s arsenal. Working with legendary sound designer Walter Murch, Coppola fashioned a film that is as much to be listened to as it is to be viewed. It is a complex collage of dialogue, sound effects, music and aural washes that put the work of sound designers on the map.

LIKE FATHER LIKE DAUGHTER

Coppola’s filmmaking has always been a family affair. His father Carmine composed music for his early films, his sister Talia Shire appeared in The Godfather movies and his nephew Nicolas Cage has found fame in his own right. But perhaps the biggest talent in the Coppola family is his daughter Sofia. After surviving a lambasting from the critics for her role in The Godfather Part III she turned to directing, getting attention with The Virgin Suicides, the Oscar-winning Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette. Her style is more dreamy and lyrical than her father’s, but she seems blessed with his ambition and desire to pursue her own path.

Must-see Movies

The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather Part II (1974)

The Conversation (1974)

Apocalypse Now