21.5.09 : Coppola, année zéro
Courte autobiographie de Francis Ford Coppola sur le site web de "Tetro", son nouveau film. On lui a proposé qu’il soit présenté hors compétition à Cannes dans une sorte de soirée de gala mais il a refusé. Il l’a alors offert à la Quinzaine des réalisateurs.
Son précédent film, "L’Homme sans âge" marquait une volonté de revenir à un cinéma indépendant, à petit budget, comme le confirme ce texte. Quand cet esprit vient d’un double lauréat de la Palme d’or qui a signé les "Parrains" ou "Dracula", ça a particulièrement du sens :
"There's a lot of bios of me on the web, more or less accurate (no I did not direct two soft porn films sometimes credited to me). So I thought I'd use this bio space to tell you some things you may not have read.
I was a camp counselor and loved it. I love kids - every child is a little Picasso, they are bundles of creativity. I'm always in touch with the child inside me.
My advice to aspiring filmmakers is to get married and have a family. It's inspiration and motivation.
Learn to cook. They may not like your films but everybody loves a good meal.
I only drink wine with a meal.
Get a day job. If you want to make personal films it's good to have something else that pays the bills. Operating on a small budget allows you to tackle big ideas.
Sometimes the things you are in trouble for or fired for when you're young are the same things you are given lifetime achievement awards for when you are older.
My goal is to learn to make films and perhaps be able to expand the language of cinema. (And have more grandchildren. And great-grandchildren)."