Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola coming to The Henry Ford for sold-out events
The Henry Ford's vast collection of artifacts speaks to the legacy of America's cultural and technological achievements.
This month, it also will host a creative icon who should be declared a national treasure.
Director Francis Ford Coppola, whose classic films 'The Godfather,' 'The Godfather II" and 'Apocalype Now' and more are imprinted on the national psyche, is set to appear at two sold-out events on April 27 as part of the series 'Francis Ford at The Henry Ford.'
The iconic director, a five-time Oscar winner, will deliver remarks that afternoon at a special screening of his latest movie, 'Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis,' at the Giant Screen Experience in the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn.
A few hours later, he will participate in a conversation with his biographer Sam Wasson at 'Behind the Lens: An Evening with Francis Ford Coppola." He is expected to discuss his creative process and go behind the scenes of 'Megalopolis,' the 2024 Roman epic that unfolds in Coppola's imagined version of a contemporary United States.
All this is happening one day after Coppola is scheduled to receive the American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award, a pinnacle of cinematic recognition. He will be presented with the honor April 26 by filmmakers George Lucas and Steven Spielberg at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
For Coppola, who was born at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and spent the early years of his childhood in the city, The Henry Ford event will be a homecoming to the region that gave him his middle name.
As his father, Carmine Coppola, a flutist for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, explained in a 1988 letter to the Free Press, 'When Francie came along in 1939, I gave him the middle name for the man I was working for. At that time, Henry Ford was a big contributor to the Detroit Symphony and I also worked for the 'Ford Music Hour.'' The radio program employed Carmine Coppola as an assistant conductor and arranger.
Francis Ford Coppola has continued to feel a connection to the Motor City, a bond that helped inspire his 1988 film "Tucker: The Man and His Dream," about the maverick automaker's attempt to create his own car line.
In a letter to the Free Press timed to the arrival of "Tucker," the 86-year-old cinematic genius also wrote to the Free Press sharing that "my family always referred to me as the 'Detroit baby.'"
Coppola shared his feelings about his birthplace and his AFI award in a recent email interview with the Free Press. Like his movies, his answers don't waste a word as they capture the mood and emotions of a sweeping moment.
QUESTION: You were born in Detroit and spent the first three or four years of your life here, where your father played an important role with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. What is one of your strongest memories from that time?
ANSWER: Getting stung by a yellow jacket when I was two years old. I couldn't believe how much it hurt and I went crying to my mother.
Q: Beyond your middle name, do you think Detroit has had an impact on your life? Is it a place you follow in the news or are emotional attached to?
A: It was always important to me that I was born in Detroit. As a kid I rooted for the Detroit Tigers when my whole family was for the New York Yankees. Coming from Detroit gave me a unique identity in a family of New Yorkers.
Q: Your AFI Life Achievement Award event is happening on April 26. What do you think the Francis Ford Coppola of the early 1960s, who was making 'Dementia 13' with another native Detroiter, producer Roger Corman, would have thought about this?
A: It's hard for me to think how my life has taken the path it has. I never imagined things like this would happen the way that they did.
Q: Your movies have become part of the lexicon of American pop culture. How often do you spot a reference or nod to something you've directed, whether it's in a commercial, comedy skit, everyday phrase or another film?
A: My eyes are so focused on the future rather than the past; there is a wonderful poem by Robert Browning which expresses how I feel: 'Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?'
Q: Your appearance at The Henry Ford include as showing of your latest film, 'Megalopolis,' on the museum's Giant Screen Experience. Can you describe what it's like as a filmmaker, seeing your movie on an 80-foot by 42-foot screen?
A: As if you're sharing your dream with a community of your fellow human beings, with your beloved cousins.
'Francis Ford at The Henry Ford' will continue with screenings of 'Megalopolis' at 7 p.m. on May 30 and 31. For information, go to The Henry Ford website.
Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 'Francis Ford at The Henry Ford': Director Coppola to appear at museum
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