Francis Ford Coppola Quotes

Always make your work be personal. And, you never have to lie ... There is something we know that's connected with beauty and truth. There is something ancient. We know that art is about beauty, and therefore it has to be about truth. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I always knew what I thought the theme was, the core, in one word. In 'The Godfather' it was succession. In 'The Conversation' it was privacy. In 'Apocalypse' it was morality. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

The notebook was my anchor through all of it. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I had to get a job, and of course, the job was 'The Godfather.' That made me be something I didn't know I was going to be. I became a big-shot director. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

Art depends on luck and talent. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

You have to really be courageous about your instincts and your ideas. Otherwise you'll just knuckle under, and things that might have been memorable will be lost. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I wrote the script of Patton. I had this very bizarre opening where he stands up in front of an American flag and gives this speech. Ultimately, I was fired. When the script was done, they hired another writer and that script was forgotten. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

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. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

Being a former theater student, of course, there is a part of me that is fascinated with stage crafts and what you can do with illusions and working within the confines of the studio. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

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. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

As long as I can make lots of money in other businesses, I'll continue to subsidize my own work. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

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. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

The time a movie is made is unique, not only from the talent that is available but if the public was ready for it. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

When I was sixteen or seventeen, I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to be a playwright. But everything I wrote, I thought, was weak. And I can remember falling asleep in tears because I had no talent the way I wanted to have. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

In America, even the critics - which is a pity - tend to genre-ize things. They have a hard time when genres get mixed. They want to categorize things. That's why I love Wes Anderson's films and the Coen Brothers, because you don't know what you're going to get, and very often you get something that you don't expect and that's just what a genre's not supposed to do. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

It was the man's dream, and his inspiring attempt to make them come true that remain important. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

One thing that I'm sure of is the real pleasure of life - it's not being known, it's not having your own jet plane, it's not having a mansion the pleasure is to learn something ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I became quite successful very young, and it was mainly because I was so enthusiastic and I just worked so hard at it. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I don't see any method at all...Sir ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I was never sloppy with other people's money. Only my own. Because I figure, well, you can be. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I learned from Francis Ford Coppola to treat the company like your family. ~ Mary Stuart Masterson

The most adventurous thing I've done is learn how to fly a helicopter in the Philippines. One night we landed on a beach and slept on it. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

Cinema without risk is like having no sex and expecting to have a baby. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I'm no longer dependent on the movie business to make a living. So if I want to make movies as other old guys would play golf, I can. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I made this movie for $40,000, which was this little black-and-white horror film called Dementia 13, which we made in about nine days. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

The photographer and the director are where reality and fantasy meet. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

Upon that second reading, much of the book fell away in my mind, revealing a story that was a metaphor for American capitalism in the tale of a great king with three sons: the oldest was given his passion and aggressiveness, the second his sweet nature and childlike qualities, and the third his intelligence, cunning, and coldness. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

When a movie is about to come out on its initial debut, there are a lot of people involved - the financiers, the studio and the producers and also, many times, the foreign distributors. So it is a time of tremendous pressure and uncertainty. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

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.' ~ Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola - A man climbs a mountain and they call him a hero. I climb mountains that aren't even there. ~ Madeline Moore

I probably have genius. But no talent. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

Music is a big factor in helping the illusion of the film come to life. The same way music brings back different periods of our lives. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

Anything you build on a large scale or with intense passion invites chaos. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

Whom God wishes to destroy, He first makes successful in show business. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

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. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I wanted to write and direct movies and not be forced to adapt them from a bestselling book. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

If the movie works, nobody notices the mistakes ... If the movie doesn't work, the only thing people notice are mistakes. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

It is a little disappointing to see that your legs are not as strong. But I like the idea of growing old, and the thought of approaching death is not particularly daunting to me. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

'The Godfather' changed my life, for better or worse. It definitely made me have an older man's film career when I was 29. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

My big goal in life was always to figure out how I can make a lot of money so I can go off and make films irrespective of the opinion of the three or four critics who seem to rule the roost. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

The great hope is that people who wouldn't normally make films will be making them. Suddenly, one day some little fat girl in Ohio is going to be the new Mozart and make a beautiful film with her father's camera and for once the so called professionalism about movies will be destroyed forever - and it will really become an art form. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

By working in the morning, I find a sense of peace; it's isolated peace, but I can definitely be in touch with my feelings, and then I just start. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

It takes no imagination to live within your means. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

When I was about 9, I had polio, and people were very frightened for their children, so you tended to be isolated. I was paralyzed for a while, so I watched television. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

We had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little, we went insane. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

There's a hormone secreted into the bloodstream of most writers that makes them hate their own work while they are doing it, or immediately after. This, coupled with the chorus of critical reaction from those privileged to take a first look, is almost enough to discourage further work entirely. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I liked to work in a shop down in the basement and invent things and build gadgets. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I grew up on film sets and I had a ball. It wouldn't have had nearly as much fun if my dad had been working behind a desk somewhere. I remember being on the set of 'The Godfather: Part III,' and all the kids were running around and doing crazy things, and Francis Ford Coppola just embraced that. ~ Dominik Garcia-Lorido

Time is the lens through which dreams are captured. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

We do things for good reasons that are bad. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

Without a doubt, I was born to want to make cinema, but the kind of cinema I want to make is not like commercial movies, which I enjoy myself, but I wanted to be the kind of filmmaker who wrote original work, sort of like a novelist would who deals with who we are and our times or our relationships. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I have more of a vivid imagination than I have talent. I cook up ideas. It's just a characteristic. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I loved it; I was living a dream. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

When you make a film it is like asking yourself a question. When it is finished, you know the answer. Ultimately with all of cinema, we are just trying to learn about ourselves. I have always used the opportunity to make a film to learn more about myself, which I am still doing. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I know that if a film is ready to emerge out of what I write, I'll be able to go off and make it without asking anyone's permission. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I believe that filmmaking - as, probably, is everything - is a game you should play with all your cards, and all your dice, and whatever else you've got. So, each time I make a movie, I give it everything I have. I think everyone should, and I think everyone should do everything they do that way. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I think a sequel is a waste of money and time. I think movies should illuminate new stories. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

When that happens - when risk is taken and the filmmakers dive into the subject matter without a parachute - very often what you get it something with those qualities that make it age well with the public. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I think it's better to be overly ambitious and fail than to be underambitious and succeed in a mundane way. I have been very fortunate. I failed upward in my life! ~ Francis Ford Coppola

We support each other in the Coppola family. We love the idea of everyone getting his place in the sun. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

My company and people think I'm wacky when I have an idea ... I know if I have an idea, no one will want to go through it. But if I persist, people will go through it. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

Work on nothing less than epic scale ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I always found the film world unpleasant. It's all about the schedule, and never really flew for me. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

That's part of the requirement for me to be an artist is that you're trying to share your personal existence with others and trying to illuminate modern life, trying to understand life. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

Although knowledge of structure is helpful, real creativity comes from leaps of faith in which you jump to something illogical. But those leaps form the memorable moments in movies and plays. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

The essence of cinema is editing. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

A lot of the young people make beautiful films or big films or are able to finance them, but they can't get anyone to distribute them, they can't get anyone to see them, so they go to these thousands of film festivals. So I still believe that even though a young kid might be able to make a masterpiece or something that changes the direction of cinema, the issue of how to get it to people is still not solved. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

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. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

Most filmmakers can't afford to try something out that doesn't work. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I have much to learn from my daughter Sofia. Her minimalism exposes my limitations: I'm too instinctive and operatic, I put too much heart into my work, I get lost sometimes in bizarre things - it's my Italian heritage. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

Anyone who's made film and knows about the cinema has a lifelong love affair with the experience. You never stop learning about film. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

You don't have to specialize - do everything that you love and then, at some time, the future will come together for you in some form. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

Films and hotels have many aspects that are the same. For example, there is always a big vision, an idea. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

An essential element of any art is risk. If you don't take a risk then how are you going to make something really beautiful, that hasn't been seen before? ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I'm very proud of my flops, as much as of my successes. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I just finished a film a few days ago, and I came home and said I learned so much today. So if I can come home from working on a little film after doing it for 45 years and say, I learned so much today, that shows something about the cinema. Because the cinema is very young. It's only 100 years old. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

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. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I had a number of very strong personalities in my family. My father was a concert flutist, the solo flute for Toscanini. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

Usually, the stuff that's your best idea or work is going to be attacked the most. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I realized I probably wouldn't make another film that cuts through commercial and creative things like 'Godfather' or 'Apocalypse.' ~ Francis Ford Coppola

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. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I had a number of teachers who hated me. I didn't do well in school. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

People feel the worst film I made was 'Jack.' But to this day, when I get checks from old movies I've made, 'Jack' is one of the biggest ones. No one knows that. If people hate the movie, they hate the movie. I just wanted to work with Robin Williams. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

The stuff that I got in trouble for, the casting for The Godfather or the flag scene in Patton, was the stuff that was remembered, and was considered the good work. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I've been offered lots of movies. There's always some actor who's doing a project and would like to have me do it. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

Drinking wine is just a part of life, like eating food. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

The things you get fired for when you're young are the same things that you get lifetime achievement awards for when you're old. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I thought I wanted to be a playwright because I was interested in stories and telling stories. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I was a pretty shy, lonely kid. I blossomed about age 17, when I went to college. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

My relationship with Christian Slater is like him and Marisa Tomei in 'Untamed Heart.' 'True Romance' was right when I was beginning to become a fan boy of movies. People forget that he's worked with some of the biggest directors in Hollywood. He's worked with Francis Ford Coppola, Quentin Tarantino, John Woo. ~ Bret Harrison

I always think upon Lee Strasberg with warmth, and reviewing his wisdom is a pleasure. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I was terrible at maths, but I could grasp science, and I used to love to read about the lives of the scientists. I wanted to be a scientist or an inventor. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

The internet in hotels should be free - and I really resent it when they charge you five dollars for a bottle of water beside your bed. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

If I have to be remembered for something, I want it remembered that I really liked children and was a good camp counselor. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

Everything I do is personal. I have never made a movie that didn't have very strong personal resonance. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

You ought to love what you're doing because, especially in a movie, over time you really will start to hate it. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated. The very earliest people who made film were magicians. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I like to work in the morning. I like to sometimes go to a place where I'm all alone where I'm not going to get a phone call early that hurts my feelings, because once my feelings are hurt, I'm dead in the water. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I was interested in the idea of succession - showing a father and a son both in their own time and drawing a contrast ~ Francis Ford Coppola

I remember growing up with television, from the time it was just a test pattern, with maybe a little bit of programming once in a while. ~ Francis Ford Coppola