As Francis Ford Coppola obtained AFI‘s fiftieth Life Achievement Award, Adam Driver praised his fearless strategy to cinema.
Throughout Saturday’s gala on the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, the actor paid tribute to “one in every of my cinematic heroes” and his large swing with final 12 months’s Megalopolis, which Coppola self-funded after first conceiving the concept in 1983.
“A theater director who introduced his course of to movie and revolutionized how we take into consideration cinema, and positively how we make it,” stated Driver. “His motion pictures, for some, are the yardstick to be measured by, and on the very least, examples of the probabilities in movie, like for my part, Megalopolis.”
Recalling “the perfect piece of route I ever heard” that got here from the primary day of filming Megalopolis, Driver stated Coppola advised the room, “We’re not being courageous sufficient.”
Placing that piece of recommendation into the context of Coppola’s storied profession, the actor praised him for “spending $120 million on a bit of artwork, and never letting the cash dictate the content material of the movie. And imagine me, I used to be there. There was no speak about how he may make this extra industrial.”
“This can be a principled life, and for a 12 months in our tradition when the significance of the humanities is minimized, and our business is seemingly out within the open, then the one metric to evaluate a movie’s success is by how a lot cash it makes. I cling on to people like Francis for inspiration, who dwell via their convictions, via large strikes, all in service of pushing the medium ahead.
Driver continued, “Francis took $120 million and created a singular gesture for what he thought movie could possibly be, and I believe that’s fairly nice. That type of transfer has an aftershock that definitely will likely be felt in his movies, will likely be felt all through time, and is clearly felt on this room. So, I do know you have got difficult emotions about awarding Francis, however to echo what everybody else has been saying, you greater than deserve this second. Congratulation on all you’ve achieved, and I’m honored to be right here to rejoice you, your generosity and your bravery.”
Regardless of Coppola’s nine-figure funding, Megalopolis was torn aside by critics, incomes $14.3M worldwide.
‘Megalopolis’
Lionsgate
Filmmaking friends like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Spike Lee and extra had been additionally available to rejoice Coppola, in addition to collaborators like Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Elle Fanning and Diane Lane.
The Life Achievement Award is AFI;s highest esteem for a profession in movie. Coppola;s predecessors embody Nicole Kidman, Julie Andrews, Denzel Washington, George Clooney, Diane Keaton and John Williams.
Coppola’s The Godfather, The Godfather Half II and Apocalypse Now are ranked amongst historical past’s biggest movies in AFI’s 100 Years…100 Motion pictures listing. A six-time Academy Award winner, his different iconic function credit, as author, director and/or producer, embody Patton, American Graffiti, The Dialog, The Outsiders and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, to call just some.
The AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute returns this 12 months to TNT, with encore shows to comply with on Turner Traditional Motion pictures.
