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Video length: 9 min
VIDEO. Cinema conversation with Francis Ford Coppola
Brut spoke with director Francis Ford Coppola and talked about cell phones, ancient Greece and streaming.
(Raw.)
Brut spoke with director Francis Ford Coppola and talked about cell phones, ancient Greece and streaming.
Francis Ford Coppola, the legendary director of Apocalypse Now and The Godfather, explains: “You know, in our life, we are first young, then old, but it is only once we are old that we understand what we experienced when we were young.” With age and experience, Francis Ford Coppola began to question “the nature of existence”as he mentions, because “our brain constantly interprets everything, but what we see is not necessarily reality.”
His latest film Megalopolis helped him better understand “that existence itself as we imagine it” is not always consistent with reality. At 85 years old, with a successful career, Francis Ford Coppola continues to learn and challenge his perceptions.
For Francis Ford Coppola, taking risks is inherent to artistic creation. “You can’t make art without risk. Risk is part of art” he says. He gives the example of masterpieces like Bizet’s Carmen and Jacques Tati’s Playtime, which were initially maligned but which have survived the test of time.
Francis Ford Coppola denounces the film industry which seeks to reproduce proven formulas without taking risks, “as if it were Coca-Cola”. According to him, “There is only one factor that tells the truth and that is time. If your film survives for 50 years and people go to see it, then it has reached a certain level of success .”
Although streaming and viewing on a small screen are possible, Francis Ford Coppola insists on the importance of the collective experience of cinema in theaters. “The beauty of art is sharing an experience between human beings”, he explains. “You can see it on a phone, at home, on your television with your wife, but it’s not the same thing.”
He praises the French, “the best moviegoers in the world” according to him, who “love going to the movies.” Coppola remembers seeing Lawrence of Arabia “in a large cinema hall” and states: “There is nothing that can compare to this.”
Ultimately, for Francis Ford Coppola, cinema is a collective art requiring the collaboration of a team, like the theater from which it comes. His advice to young aspiring filmmakers? “Do one-act plays with people who also want to do theater and learn. The most important thing in cinema is acting and writing the script.”