Francis Ford Coppola was arguably the most talented director to have matriculated from an American film school and one can make a case his body of work trumped Martin Scorsese’s throughout the 1970s and ’80s. The very real distractions of trying to keep his production studio (Zoetrope) afloat led to a disconnect from his craft in the 1990s and Coppola’s penchant for movie-making never recovered. At this late stage it seems unlikely he’s got another great movie left in him but, to his credit, he remains committed to being an independent voice when he could have easily cashed-in his chips.
1962 The Bellboy and the Playgirls
1962 Tonight for Sure
1963 Dementia 13 ***
1966 You’re a Big Boy, Now ***
1968 Finian’s Rainbow ***
1969 The Rain People ***
1972 The Godfather ****
1974 The Conversation ****
1974 The Godfather Pt. 2 ****1/2
1979 Apocalypse Now ***1/2
1981 One From the Heart ***1/2
1982 The Outsiders ***1/2
1983 Rumble Fish ***1/2
1984 Cotton Club ***1/2
1986 Peggy Sue Got Married ****
1987 Gardens of Stone ***
1988 Tucker ***1/2
1989 New York Stories *** (segment)
1990 The Godfather Pt. 3 ***1/2
1992 Bram Stoker’s Dracula ***
1996 Jack
1997 The Rainmaker ***
2000 Supernova
2007 Youth without Youth ***1/2
2009 Tetro ***
2011 Twixt ***