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Godfather: The Intimate Francis Ford Coppola
WITH A FOREWORD BY WALTER MURCH Gene Phillips blends biography, studio history, and film criticism to complete the most comprehensive work on Coppola ever written. The force behind such popular and critically acclaimed films as Apocalypse Now and the Godfather trilogy, Coppola has imprinted his distinct style on each of his movies and on the landscape of American popular culture. In Godfather , Phillips argues that Coppola has repeatedly bucked the Hollywood "factory system" in an attempt to create distinct films that reflect his own artistic vision―often to the detriment of his career and finances. Phillips conducted interviews with the director and his colleagues and examined Coppola's production journals and screenplays. Phillips also reviewed rare copies of Coppola's student films, his early excursions into soft-core pornography, and his less celebrated productions such as One from the Heart and The Man and His Dream . The result is the definitive assessment of one of Hollywood's most enduring and misunderstood mavericks.
424 pages, Hardcover
First published April 16, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 25, 2016
Maddening, half-good career overview of FFC. Phillips' usual shortcomings are on full display here: repeated name-drops of meeting celebs at Cannes and premiers; sniping at the factual errors of other authors, whilst committing similar goofs himself; pedestrian analysis and freshman-level writing ("this shot is a metaphor for...and this other shot is a metaphor for..."). Phillips adequately synthesizes scads of interviews and articles on Coppola, which makes this book an efficient clearinghouse of data, providing some insight into its subject. All of which is another way of saying that it is readable. However, this is yet another Phillips bio that assembles information without much propose or passion.
January 8, 2021
Phillips sets out to make a kind of critical biography, but at the same time, he aims to avoid material other critics have gone over many times before. Anyone who knows Coppola enough to read this book already knows something about the Godfather movies, and Phillips wants to bring the reader something new.
The result is a book that touches upon the director's best-known and best-loved films, but takes a long look at the deep cuts. I had no idea that Coppola was involved in at least 1/3 of the films and tv shows that Phillips covers - and I've seen most of them. The book spends as much time on Coppola's episode of Faerie Tale Theater as it does on The Conversation.
That said, I enjoyed it immensely, and Phillips was a great writer who definitely did his research. The book is very readable and essential for Francis Coppola fans, but it might not be for everyone else.
The result is a book that touches upon the director's best-known and best-loved films, but takes a long look at the deep cuts. I had no idea that Coppola was involved in at least 1/3 of the films and tv shows that Phillips covers - and I've seen most of them. The book spends as much time on Coppola's episode of Faerie Tale Theater as it does on The Conversation.
That said, I enjoyed it immensely, and Phillips was a great writer who definitely did his research. The book is very readable and essential for Francis Coppola fans, but it might not be for everyone else.
March 2, 2022
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 stars. Right in between good and bad.
Neither biography, nor critical analysis; fails at both but succeeds in being banal if that was the intention.
Mostly the book is an analysis of work that has been analyzed by everyone already. There’s nothing new here except a few borrowed quotes from Coppola who ostensibly does not like to talk much about himself or his work.
If this book is your introduction to Coppola, OK. Enjoy it. There’s much more to the man and you will learn it elsewhere. If this is a book you’ve read after knowing something about Coppola, now you know nothing new –other than realizing that Gene Phillips is not very accurate in his research. But everyone knows that.
Neither biography, nor critical analysis; fails at both but succeeds in being banal if that was the intention.
Mostly the book is an analysis of work that has been analyzed by everyone already. There’s nothing new here except a few borrowed quotes from Coppola who ostensibly does not like to talk much about himself or his work.
If this book is your introduction to Coppola, OK. Enjoy it. There’s much more to the man and you will learn it elsewhere. If this is a book you’ve read after knowing something about Coppola, now you know nothing new –other than realizing that Gene Phillips is not very accurate in his research. But everyone knows that.
October 20, 2020
An interesting look at a great American director
This book seems to try to straddle the line between biography and critical film study and, while it doesn’t quite succeed on either level, it still has some interesting information about one of America’s greatest directors and some good insights into this films. It’s a worthwhile read, although I do have to admit that I skipped through a few sections.
This book seems to try to straddle the line between biography and critical film study and, while it doesn’t quite succeed on either level, it still has some interesting information about one of America’s greatest directors and some good insights into this films. It’s a worthwhile read, although I do have to admit that I skipped through a few sections.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews