A group of filmmakers and first -rate actors presented itself on Saturday evening in support of Francis Ford Coppolawhile the legendary director received the 50th AFI Lifetime Achievement Award. At 86, Coppola joined a small group of filmmakers who received this honor, including Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese And Mel Brooks. The ceremony was a celebration of Coppola’s sixty -year career, during which the US cinematography radically remodelled.
The gala was a kind of repatriated for Coppola, to which Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Spike lee, Harrison Ford, Diane lane And Ralph Macchio They came to show respect. To pay homage to the family patriarch were there Already And Roman CoppolaWhile Sofia CoppolaFrancis’s most famous daughter was not present (but appeared in a video interview with the father who was shown during the ceremony). Francis joked with his daughter in the newspaper he published at his Zoetropic Studios, called Dingbat Newswhere there was a gossip column that often revealed the secrets of the behind the scenes.
To deliver the award to Coppola were Steven Spielberg And George Lucasin turn winners of an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award. “The godfatherfor me, is the greatest American film that has ever been shot, “said Spielberg in Coppola. «You are unparalleled. You took what came before and redefined the American cinema canon, as well as inspiring a generation of narrators who want to make you proud of their work. And I always want to make you proud of the my I work, “he said before calling Lucas on stage. «You gathered a group of young cinema students and we moved to San Francisco, hoping to beat the system. And we did it, “said Lucas. “We had no rules. We wrote them, while you kept the pen. Thank you for creating an era of directors who loved cinema. “
Coppola was defined as the godfather of modern cinema, not only as a director but also as a producer of American Graffiti by Lucas, mentor of Spielberg and supporter of actors such as Pacino, De Niro and Ford. Ford told the public that she met Lucas as she worked as a carpenter for Coppola. There he met Lucas, who was looking for the only Han just. Ford was presented to Lucas “covered with sawdust, with the tool belt, while sweeping the floor. You know the rest, “Ford said. “But if I’m here tonight it is thanks to the community that Francis has cultivated.”
Pacino and De Niro spoke of their experience on the set of Godfather. «None of us have been fired, but some have gone close to us. I went there closer than everyone, “he joked Pacino. «Francis has always fought for us. They could have fired it for this. Today, many years later, here we are all to celebrate it here ». De Niro thanked Coppola for not writing him in the Godfather original, allowing him to interpret Pacino’s father in The Godfather – Part II. The predominant argument of the evening was the determination of Coppola who followed his vision and to support the actors he wrote in his films.
The lightest moment of the evening was the intervention of Driver, which he starred in the most recent (and controversial) film of Coppola, Megalopolis. Driver said that the best advice I’ve ever received came from Coppola. “” We must be bravely, “Coppola said to the cast and the troupe of Megalopolis. It was known that he was spending $ 120 million in his pocket to make the film, “Driver said. “I am already angry enough if I spend 5 dollars for a cup of coffee and it’s not hot enough, let alone if I spend 120 million dollars, I give them to a group of actors and on the first day I tell him to” be more brave “”.
Driver praised Coppola for not letting the finances dictated the content of his films. “In a year in which the importance of the arts is minimized,” said Driver, “and our sector judges the success of a film only on the basis of how much money does, I cling to people like Francis to find inspiration”.
When Coppola finally got on stage to collect the prize, his observations were short and allegorical. He spoke of Hollywood as the “old neighborhood where I grew up. Everything that surrounds me is very familiar, yet everything has changed ». He thanked his family, of which there was some member in the audience, and he told his colleagues filmmakers: “They are and I will never be anything but one of you”.
Among the public there were also the usual large pieces of the studios. Ted SarandosCEO of Netflix, sat at the central table next to the director Spike leewhile Disney Entertainment’s co-president Alan Bergman He kept the bench at a nearby table. The event also included a special memory of David Lynch, who passed away in January, who had graduated from the FI in 1970. The President and CEO of the FI, Bob Gazzalepresented a video of Lynch shot on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the school. With his ringing and screeching tone, Lynch declared that he “loved the AFI”, a declaration that the public accepted with a thunderous applause.
This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award was a return to the celebration of old Hollywood. Elle Fanning It was the celebrity present in the younger room than several decades. Also, there was no talk of the accusations for Coppola’s behavior on the set of Megalopolisnor of the subsequent cause for defamation intended by Coppola (who denied any accusation of inappropriate behavior). The evening instead focused on her role as a mentor and innovative director. Perhaps the event did not arouse equally clamor of the last year ceremony, which he rewarded Nicole Kidmanbut this year he recalled that Coppola’s influence in the 70s and 80s contributed to shaping independent cinema long before the term became common in the sector. And of course, the wine of the Coppola wine company was served for dinner.
Source: Vanity Fair
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