A biography for Francis Ford Coppolahasn’t been written yet.
“I wanted to be a film student again, as a man in my 60s. To go someplace alone and see what you can cook up, with non-existent budgets. I didn't want to be surrounded by comforts and colleagues, which you have when when you're a big time director. I wanted to write personal works.”
“I was the kind of kid that had some talents or ability, but it never came out in school.”
“Everything I do is personal. I have never made a movie that didn't have very strong personal resonance.”
“'Godfather' was very classical - the way it was shot, the style - the whole driving force of it was more classical, almost Shakespearean.”
“The time a movie is made is unique, not only from the talent that is available but if the public was ready for it.”
“The professional world was much more unpleasant than I thought. I was always wishing I could get back that enthusiasm I had when I was doing shows at college.”
“I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated. The very earliest people who made film were magicians.”
“All of a sudden, there are great Japanese films, or great Italian films, or great Australian films. It's usually because there are a number of people that cross-pollinated each other.”
“I probably have genius. But no talent.”
“When newspapers started to publish the box office scores of movies, I was horrified. Those results are totally fake because they never include the promotion budget.”
“As long as I can make lots of money in other businesses, I'll continue to subsidize my own work.”
“I remember teachers who really singled me out for their discouragement.”