Wednesday,
March 12, 2008
Francis Ford Coppola's "Tetro" Relishes New Career in Italian-Infused
The
ANNOTICO Report
Francis
Ford Coppola says he has been set free. Free at last to make movies - one a
year, he hopes - with full financial and artistic control, His focus now is on
making beautiful, enduring films. "I want personally for people to say, 'God, that was beautiful!' "
Unfortunately, the
five-time Oscar winner, best known for "The Godfather" trilogy about
the Corleone Mafia family, is preparing to shoot a
film about another although much different, but equally dysfunctional,
Italian-immigrant clan.
"Tetro," follows two sons of a great but
monstrously self-absorbed orchestra conductor in contemporary
I would have
liked to see Coppola show a little penance for being so instrumental in
creating a Negative Italian American image.
Francis Ford Coppola Relishes New Start in
Italian-Infused
Free at last to
make movies - one a year, he hopes - with full financial and artistic control,
taking advantage of
"After a
while I realized that I was getting further and further away from what my
original intentions had been," the 68-year-old filmmaker said in an
interview with The Associated Press. "So at this age I decided, 'Well, why don't I make the kinds of films I wanted to do
when I was 18? I'll just do it later in life.' "
The five-time
Oscar winner, best known for "The Godfather" trilogy about the Corleone Mafia family, is preparing to shoot a film about a
much different, but equally dysfunctional, Italian-immigrant clan.
"Tetro," for which Coppola wrote an original screenplay,
follows two sons of a great but monstrously self-absorbed orchestra conductor
in contemporary
Much of the
film will be shot in La Boca, a neighbourhood marked
by the legacy of poor Italian immigrants who arrived by the shiploads in the
early 20th century.
Researching his tale, Coppola discovered many parallels between
"Italian
families emigrated to Argentina and the United States, and very often brothers
in the same family would go two different directions," Coppola explains,
relaxing in the courtyard of his new home and studio, which comes complete with
the steel barbecue grill no self-respecting Argentine would do without.
Coppola, who
splits his time now between the
He has been
photographed walking alone among the shops and markets in chic neighbourhoods, a black beret pulled down over his greying hair.
"
Coppola has even
discovered
His stay hasn't
all been pleasant - his studio was burglarized in September by thieves who
stole computers and even his backup data system. Coppola made an unsuccessful
public appeal for their return, but said his script for "Tetro" was never stolen, contrary to local press
reports.
"They never
stole the original script," he says. "They took the computers and the
backup, but they only took photographs, only for the last
year-and-a-half."
After a decade
devoted to paying off creditors by focusing on less personal films, Coppola
says he finally has the financial freedom to pursue his own projects with
proceeds from his other businesses - including his California vineyard, an
organic pasta business, and three luxury resorts in Belize and Guatemala.
And he continues
to cast well known actors from outside the studio system.
Vincent
Gallo
of "Buffalo 66" and "The Brown Bunny" is the lead character
in "Tetro," backed by Spanish actress Maribel Verdu
of "Pan's Labyrinth" and Oscar winner Javier Bardem
of "No Country For Old Men."
Newcomer Alden Ehrenreich,
18, will play a young man searching for the estranged older brother Tetro - a "tragic poet figure" who
broke all family ties and moved in amid the Bohemian theatre, dance and
artistic community of
Coppola said he
is not unlike millions of tourists who rediscovered budget
"People are
coming here, not unlike myself, because the dollar is
less compromised than even in Europe or
Coppola
has made fortunes on gambles like "Apocalypse Now," and lost them on
commercial flops like "One from the Heart." Now he says he can
finance his own movies, like "Tetro," for
under $15 million.
He has even
gained a decent command of Spanish, breaking into basic sentences with a clear
voice.
"I feel
people who come to the
At the same time,
he says U.S. English speakers could benefit from learning more about
With his 2007
film "Youth Without Youth," Coppola returned
to directing after a hiatus of several years. He calls "Tetro" the "second film of my new career, so I'm
just learning."
His focus now
is on making beautiful, enduring films.
"I'm not
really trying to make a lot of money off the movie business," Coppola
said. "I want personally for people to say, 'God,
that was beautiful!' "
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