“That film ruined me” , “in the sense that it was so successful that everything I did was compared to it.” says Coppola a five time Oscar winner writer-director-producer who is now 82 in his latest GQ interview about world cinema’s most iconic The Godfather (1972).
But do we agree with him? Not really. Francis Ford Coppola made more than one iconic film in multiple genres even post The Godfather. He was arguably at the pinnacle of his craft when he made The Godfather II. A two times Palm D’or winner for The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979), Coppola went on to make some really notable films like The Outsiders and The Cotton Club later. Dracula (1992) is yet another creation of his that stood the test of time. Lets not forget Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), a trend setter time-loop romantic comedy that earned him 3 Oscar nominations.
Every film-maker encounters a phase where his/her/their previous works overshadow anything and everything they make afterwards. Let’s say Coppola definitely had to bear the wrath of his once illustrious and extraordinary run. But it’s never too late to make a smashing come back to the game. Let’s hope the same for Coppola’s Megalopolis, his $100m capped ambitious outing.