![]() ![]() the evolution of myself that I saw with my camera. They wanted five minutes for a TV promotional or something and I thought sooner of later I could get five minutes of film and then it went on to 15 minutes. I just had never shot a documentary before. I was just trying to keep myself occupied with something to do because we were out there for so long. TSR: Tell me about how the documentary you shot while Francis was making "Apocalypse Now" came about.ĮC: I never intended to make the documentary of all documentaries. That wasn't the intention at all at the beginning. And little by little he got out there as far as his characters. ![]() The script was evolving and the scenes were changing - it just got larger and more complex. He went deeper and deeper into himself and deeper and deeper and deeper into the production. TSR: How did "Apocalypse Now" affect Francis' state of mind?ĮC: It was a journey for him up the river I always felt. He realized it had more serious themes and considerations and it took him deeper and deeper into himself, the issues of life and death and all the heavy questions of war an epic brings to life. This was a war and people lost their children, sons, husbands. Just a fun, big war film.īut once he got out there, he found that he got delving into the research for the material - he realized this was no lightweight thing. TSR: What was Francis' inspiration for "Apocalypse Now?"ĮC: After making "The Godfather," "The Godfather: Part II" and "The Conversation," in which he felt like so many of the scenes he was shooting were inside these dark rooms and were about the complex relationship between the characters, he had the idea that he was going to go out to the Philippines on location and make this big shoot about the green landscape and everybody was going to be out in the sun - light, expansive, exciting. ![]() I think "The Godfather" was a raw example of his experience at weddings, with family, and he just took his experiences and viewed those characters with the familiar aspects that he had known. He does address the issues - both the positive and the darker side too. If he were here this moment he could make up a song about you.ĮC: Definitely the ones he has written the original pieces resonate with his life and aspects that reflect the way his life has evolved. He'll make up a song, set to a major show tune about anything. He really likes to sing, he can sing a song about anything. TSR: What does Francis enjoy most in life?ĮC: People might not realize what a good sense of humor he has. I've adjusted to it, so now it's really funny. So, when he gets home he's directing the dinner, where we are gonna sit, what we are going to eat. I think because he spent his life as a director it's just in his nature. ![]() The Screening Room: Is Francis different on set than at home?Įleanor Coppola: No. Here Eleanor Coppola talks exclusively to CNN about her pride at seeing Sophia win an Oscar, what Francis is really like and just how close "Apocalypse Now" came to disaster. The footage was subsequently immortalized in the documentary "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse." Her little camera captured revealing footage of her husband as he and his actors and crew unraveled psychologically, much like the characters in the film. Most famously, she was in the Philippines in 1976 during the notoriously difficult production of "Apocalypse Now," the war epic that almost destroyed Francis' blossoming career. Life with Francis has also allowed her a ringside seat during the making of some of the most revered films in cinematic history. That was 47 years ago and since then the retiring artist has become something of a chronicler of the extraordinary Coppola family, which includes her flamboyant Oscar-winning husband, daughter, Sophia and actors Nicolas Cage and Jason Schwartzman. They began dating and three months later she became pregnant and the couple married. It was on the set of splatter flick "Dementia 13" - she was the shy set decorator he was the ambitious rookie director. ![]()
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