Los Angeles – Los Angeles (AP) – Steven Spielberg Proclaimed “The godfather” The “greatest American film ever made” Robert de Niro He had regretted being chosen in the sequel and not in the original and Harrison Ford defended the tears that reflect on their role in the 1974 film, “the conversation.”
In the center of everything I was Francis Ford CoppolaWho on Saturday received the AFI Life Achievement Award in a ceremony at the Dolby Theater that brought together legendary stars from an apparently past cinema era,
An AFI Founder administrator, Coppola’s recognition of the organization was a kind of full circle for the director “Apocalypse Now”.
“When I was a child there were the Oscars and that was all. Now they will have a prize show for the best awards show,” said the 86 -year -old man on the red carpet before the program. “But this is a bit different because it is a personal recognition of the people that you have met your whole life and your colleagues for many years, so it is like a return home.”
“You, sir, do not have the same. You have taken what came before and redefined the canon of the American film,” Spielberg said.
Coppola sat between Spielberg and George Lucas, As actors and filmmakers such as Spike Lee, Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino and Morgan Freeman turned to the Oscar winner.
“Dreamer of Dreams in a penny, narrator of stories that cost and lost millions. But tonight, (expletive) the bankers and the bank,” Freeman said to laugh and cheers.
Lucas, the former friend and colleague of Coppola, presented the prize. The couple is known for decades and co -founded their own production company, American Zoetrope, in 1969.
“You wrapped a group of young film students, you gathered. We moved to San Francisco, hoping to overcome the system. And we did it. Just like the filmmakers of the dawn of the art form, we had no rules. We wrote them and were holding the pen,” Lucas said.
Coppola was mainly Stoic throughout the ceremony, since Hollywood sang his praises, until he accepted the award at the end of the night. He went when he approached the stage and thanked the room, which was full of some of his family members, as well as multigenerational a-listers.
“Now I understand here, this place that created me, my home, is not really a place at all, but you: friends, colleagues, teachers, playmates, family, neighbors, all beautiful faces are welcoming me,” he said. “I am and I will always be nothing more than one of you.”
Coppola was the 50th winner of the prize delivered for the first time to John Ford in 1973.
The guests were served wine from the Francis Ford Coppola winery and after dinner, faithful to their Italian heritage, a cannolis trio. The actors who have worked with Coppola painted a unified image of him as a director, remembering how they were invited to participate and educate about the cinema in a way that empowered them.
“He is very professor. He talks about history and things and even the oldest films in the scene in which he is inspired,” said the star of “The Godfather III” Andy García. “You go to work with him in a movie, and you’re going to look for an associate title and you would go out with a mastery.”
Coppola last year launched her Long -term development “Megalopolis” A Roman epic set in a modern New York. The film caused mixed critics criticism and failed with the public. However, Coppola has maintained that he was obliged to make “megalopolis” as an artist, not as a businessman. The film was self -financed.
“For a year in our culture, when the importance of the arts is minimized, and our industry is apparently in view that the only metric to judge the success of a film is for how much money earns, I cling to people like Francis by inspiration, who live their convictions,” said Adam Driver, who starred in the film.
AFI’s honoree last year was Nicole Kidman. Other recent recipients include John Williams, Mel Brooks, Denzel Washington and Julie Andrews.
