Francis Ford Coppola quotes

Francis Ford Coppola is a renowned American film director, producer, and screenwriter. With a career spanning over five decades, Coppola has left an indelible mark in the film industry. He is best known for directing iconic films like "The Godfather" trilogy, "Apocalypse Now," and "The Conversation." Coppola's storytelling prowess and innovative techniques have earned him critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including five Academy Awards. His passion for filmmaking and dedication to his craft continue to inspire aspiring filmmakers worldwide. Experience the genius of Francis Ford Coppola through his timeless and unforgettable cinematic masterpieces.

When I do a novel, I don't really use the script, I use the book; when I did Apocalypse Now, I used Heart of Darkness. Novels usually have so much rich material.

- 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

I remember teachers who really singled me out for their discouragement.

- Francis Ford Coppola

Art depends on luck and talent.

- 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

A number of images put together a certain way become something quite above and beyond what any of them are individually.

- 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 don't think there's any artist of any value who doesn't doubt what they're doing.

- Francis Ford Coppola

In kindergarten that used to be my job, to tell them fairytales. I liked Hans Christian Andersen, and the Grimm fairy tales, all the classic fairy tales.

- Francis Ford Coppola

I had been a kid that moved so much, I didn't have a lot of friends. Theater really represented camaraderie.

- Francis Ford Coppola

I landed a job with Roger Corman. The job was to write the English dialogue for a Russian science fiction picture. I didn't speak any Russian. He didn't care whether I could understand what they were saying; he wanted me to make up dialogue.

- Francis Ford Coppola

Frank Capra was a prop man, I think. John Ford was a prop man. It was a little bit of a father and son thing, and you kind of worked your way up.

- 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 had an older brother who was very interested in literature, so I had an early exposure to literature, and and theater. My father sometimes would work in musical comedies.

- Francis Ford Coppola

My film is not a movie; it's not about Vietnam. It is Vietnam.

- Francis Ford Coppola

We were raised in an Italian-American household, although we didn't speak Italian in the house. We were very proud of being Italian, and had Italian music, ate Italian food.

- Francis Ford Coppola

I had a heartbreaking experience when I was 9. I always wanted to be a guard. The most wonderful girl in the world was a guard. When I got polio and then went back to school, they made me a guard. A teacher took away my guard button.

- Francis Ford Coppola

I associate my motion picture career more with being unhappy and scared, or being under the gun, than with anything pleasant.

- 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

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

- Francis Ford Coppola

Anything you build on a large scale or with intense passion invites chaos.

- Francis Ford Coppola

The essence of cinema is editing. It's the combination of what can be extraordinary images of people during emotional moments, or images in a general sense, put together in a kind of alchemy.

- Francis Ford Coppola

George Lucas doesn't have the most physical stamina. He was so unhappy making Star Wars that he just vowed he'd never do it again.

- Francis Ford Coppola

It's ironic that at age 32, at probably the greatest moment of my career, with The Godfather having such an enormous success, I wasn't even aware of it, because I was somewhere else under the deadline again.

- 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

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

Listen, if there's one sure-fire rule that I have learned in this business, it's that I don't know anything about human nature.

- 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 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

You're in a profession in which absolutely everybody is telling you their opinion, which is different. That's one of the reasons George Lucas never directed again.

- Francis Ford Coppola