A biography for Francis Ford Coppolahasn’t been written yet.
“In kindergarten that used to be my job, to tell them fairytales. I liked Hans Christian Andersen, and the Grimm fairy tales, all the classic fairy tales.”
“If I have to be remembered for something, I want it remembered that I really liked children and was a good camp counselor.”
“I had been a kid that moved so much, I didn't have a lot of friends. Theater really represented camaraderie.”
“When I was going for my graduate degree, I decided I was going to make a feature film as my thesis. That's what I was famous for-that I had my thesis film be a feature film, which was 'You're a Big Boy Now.'”
“I always found the film world unpleasant. It's all about the schedule, and never really flew for me.”
“Some critics are stimulating in that they make you realise how you could do better, and those are valued.”
“Steven Spielberg is unique. I feel that the kinds of movies he loves are the same kinds of movies that the big mass audience loves. He's very fortunate because he can do the things he naturally likes the best, and he's been very successful.”
“To make great movies, there is an element of risk. You have to say, 'Well, I am going to make this film, and it is not really a sure thing.'”
“They needed someone to write a script of The Great Gatsby very quickly for the movie they were making. I took this job so I'd be sure to have some dough to support my family.”
“It's ironic that at age 32, at probably the greatest moment of my career, with The Godfather having such an enormous success, I wasn't even aware of it, because I was somewhere else under the deadline again.”
“Anything you build on a large scale or with intense passion invites chaos.”
“I don't go on set with an army of people because the most expensive elements of a movie production are the plane tickets, the hotel rooms, food and gasoline. If you're willing to discover new colleagues in the place that you are, you can save a ton of money.”
“I think a sequel is a waste of money and time. I think movies should illuminate new stories.”
“We teach our boys to firebomb villages, but we won't let them write fuck on the side of their planes because it's obscene.”
“I thought I wanted to be a playwright because I was interested in stories and telling stories.”
“Ten Days That Shook The World, by Eisenstein, I went to see it, and I was so impressed with this film, so impressed with what cinema could do.”
“We had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little, we went insane.”
“I've been blessed with enough wealth that I can make a film myself up to a certain budget. So one way I thought I would reinvent myself was just to make these very small, personal films that I've financed myself.”
“Usually, the stuff that's your best idea or work is going to be attacked the most.”
“I never went to a psychologist or psychiatrist in my life. Never. You know, Italians are a little prejudiced against that kind of thing.”