Francis Ford Coppola Talks State of Cinema, Evolution, Lack of Freedom
Speaking out at the Marrakech International Film Festival this year, Coppola, along with a group of global filmmakers and artists, took to Moroccan city. Heading the jury for the festival, Coppola offered some deep insight into his own view of the state of cinema at a press conference on Saturday morning.
"When I was a boy, I wanted to know who ran the world, who really was in charge. And I came up with an interesting idea: you can figure out who is running the world by who is employing the artists."
Coppola explained that, despite art's ability to change the world, the power ultimately always rests with the corporations who own the artists. "Cinema can [change the world] but it's not free."
"What we call the language of the cinema was invented around the turn of the century by pioneers who were free to experiment." Now, as he puts it, the market controls the output.
"The language of the cinema was made by experimentation. Today you can't experiment, you can't dare to experiment. The people who control the motion picture, what it's going to be, hire the directors, want to make money."
The famed director believes there's a way back, and that it's coming. "The cinema that your grandchildren will make will be nothing like we have ever seen. But to do that, to arrive at that evolution, Prometheus has to be freed and the filmmaker has to be able to experiment and take a chance."
"I wanted to make personal films, I didn't want to make commercial films." He taught this to his children, urging them to make personal films. "Make films only you can make, because there's only one of you. And my children, I'm proud to say, have done that."
Cinema has the power to bring people together, and Coppola recognizes that. But he believes the flame will not shine brightly enough until it's free again. His opinion might prove to be an unpopular one, though while good stories do still exist they are born from commercialization.
The extremities of his argument could certainly prove problematic for broader opinion of him, but at this point it hardly matters. He's proven himself a master of cinema, and he of all people has an opinion that can matter.
Source: Indiewire
