Francis Coppola's Creative Signature in Apocalypse now

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 AUTEUR AND APOCALYPSE NOW

Francis Coppola's auteur style is very contrasting to other directors. 'The Godfather' was one of his first major hit films that portrayed his distinctive style and were then seen in his other films. 

Visual Style:

- Spectacle and lavish Production design, Theatrical mise-en-scene + stagey set-pieces captured in long takes.

- Long tracking shots.

- Chiaroscuro lighting ( especially at the end of Apocalypse Now when Kurtz was at the compound).

- Imaginative use of sound and music.

- Eisensteinien montages (during the opening and closing sequences of Apocalypse Now - cross-cutting and parallel editing).

- Ironic Parallel Montage ( helicopter attack scene, murders at the end of 'The Godfather').

- Mixture of elaborately designed and planned set pieces with handheld improvisation.

Narrative:

- Anti Heroes, Outsiders, Cold professional men

- Antihero: a central character in a story who is not traditionally brave or heroic. In this instance, Captain Willard. 

- Epic narratives

- The 'American Dream' and family

- Mostly film about men, women are side-lined and barely on screen

- The search for the possibility of hope, for escape

- The journey through 'the wilderness' - critics of systems (socio-economic, racial, ethnicity, etc and inequality. )

Control: independent producer:

- Independence: Coppola owned the independent production studio: Omni Zoetrope

- Multitasking: For Apocalypse Now, Coppola directed and produced the movie as well as co-writing the music with his father Carmine Coppola.

- Financial Independence: After the success of 'The Godfather' part II, he had a lot of power in Hollywood however still struggled to finance Apocalypse Now (for example the set being destroyed by a typhoon)

- Much of the financing came from his own pocket (approx. $19 million), no one told him what to do, he was in charge.

- Creative Freedom: He's an auteur because for much of his career he was able to make any films he wished to make

- in the 70s this was because of his success with 'The Godfather' and 'The Godfather' part II which won 9 Oscars ( Apocalypse Now won 2 Oscars )

- Coppola put everything he owned on the line, by also going to horrible places in which there was a very strong possibility that he would not return. Essentially Coppola sold his sanity in order to get this film done.

- "My film is not a movie; it's not about Vietnam. It is Vietnam. It's what it was really like; it was crazy. We were in the jungle, there were too many of us, we had access to too much money, too much equipment; and little by little, we went insane."

- The film is an allegory for the Vietnam war. Not just in the story but also in the way it was made.

 Coppola's Auteur Counter Arguments:

- Coppola's period of artistic genius only lasted from 1972 - 1978

- He has only made four truly great films: 'The Godfather', 'The Godfather' part II, 'The Conversation' and 'Apocalypse Now' ('The Conversation' was the only one he actually willingly wanted to make)

- His 80s films mostly flopped and in the 90s he was just a director of hire. Nearly all of his films since Apocalypse Now have been critical and financial failures. 

- Some could argue that he isn't really an auteur, but others could say he has a reputation for being an auteur

( - Hitchcock's argument is for the auteur theory and Coppola is an argument against it.)



                                                       


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