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NOTE: With plenty of ranked Coppola lists flooding the internet today, including one from IndieWire, I’m reposting this Coppola poll.
In the ‘70s, Francis Ford Coppola directed four of the greatest films of the 20th century: “The Godfather,” “The Godfather Part Two”, “The Conversation”, and “Apocalypse Now.” He’s built his entire legacy off of these four films.
Then came, from the ‘80s on, the "frustrating post-‘Apocalypse Now’ phase of his career. He’s had a few keepers here and there, but none that have come close to his classics from the ‘70s. Some believe the arduous shoot of “Apocalypse Now” broke and changed the man, and with that, his movies as well.
The four classics from the ‘70s set practically unattainable expectations for the rest of his career. And yet, there are quite a few gems in Coppola’s post-Apocalypse Now filmography. It’s no coincidence then that, decades later, some of these hidden Coppola treasures, most from the ‘80s and ‘90s, are starting to re-emerge and get reappraised by a new generation of moviegoers.
Just this year, we’ve had “Joker: Folie a Deux” cinematographer Lawrence Sher citing Coppola’s “One From the Heart” as his main inspiration for lensing the upcoming sequel. Meanwhile, it seems as though 1983’s “Rumble Fish” keeps gaining in esteem with each passing year.
To celebrate Coppola’s return to Cannes competition, over 120 critics, programmers and filmmakers were asked to select the best Coppola film from the post- ‘Apocalypse Now’ phase of his career. Opinions were wide-ranging, votes were split fairly evenly. 11 of Coppola’s 13 films managed to snag, at least one vote. The only snubbed titles were 2007’s “Youth Without Youth” and 2012’s Twixt.” Hell, even Coppola’s much-maligned “Jack” managed to snag a vote.
RESULTS
1) Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) — 25 votes
2) Rumble Fish (1983) — 20
3) The Outsiders (1983) — 13
4) One From the Heart (1981) — 12
5) Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) — 9
6) The Godfather: Part III (1990) — 8
7) Tucker: The Man and His Dreams (1988) — 8
8) The Cotton Club (1984) — 6
9) The Rainmaker (1997) — 4
10) Tetro (2009) — 2
11) Jack (1996) — 1
What do you think? Is ‘Dracula’ his best film of the last 40 years? One thing I noticed is how many good films are on this list. Maybe not many great ones, or classics, but there was a consistency in quality output that managed to continue all the way to the late ‘90s.
As was to be expected, there were a few grouches who opted not to participate in the poll. Some of them didn’t think Coppola released a single good film these last 40 years. A noted character actor, who has appeared in a few Coen Brothers films, plainly stated “he hasn’t made a good once since Apocalypse Now.” Another one, a filmmaker, replied to my poll invite by saying, “There’s nothing to choose. They’ve all been mediocre or just plain bad.”
FULL LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
Thelma Adams (AARP), Ethan Alter (Yahoo Movies), Diego Andaluz (Deadline), Jeffrey M. Anderson (San Francisco Examiner), Edwin Arnaudin (Mountain XPress), Michael Atkinson (The Village Voice), Marjorie Baumgarten (Austin Chronicle), Nicholas Bell (IONCINEMA), John Bleasdale (CineVue), Uwe Boll (Filmmaker), Chuck Bowen (Slant Magazine), Liz Braun (Toronto Sun), Matt Brunson (Film Frenzy), Jim Brunzell (Freelance), David Cairns (The Criterion Collection), Jonathan Caouette (Filmmaker), Erik Childress (Efilmcritic), Daryl Chin (Freelance), Laura Clifford (Reeling Reviews), Adam Cook (Cinema Scope), Nick Clement (Variety), Ben Croll (The Wrap), Tony Dayoub (Cinema Viewfinder), Edward Douglas (Above the Line), Michael Dunaway (Paste Magazine), David Edelstein (Freelance), Steven Erickson (Gay City News), Max Evry (Critic/Author), Matt Fagerholm (RogerEbert), Jim Farmer, Daniel Fienberg (The Hollywood Reporter), Garth Franklin (Dark Horizons), Roger Friedman (Showbiz411), Jaky Goldberg (Les Inrockuptibles), Bill Goodykoontz (Arizona Republic), Jason Gorber (That Shelf), David Greven (University of South Carolina), Zaki Hasan (The Film Stage), Matthew Hays (Concordia University), Patrick Heidmann (Freelance), Barry Hertz (The Globe and Mail), Robert Horton (Film Comment), Peter Howell (Toronto Star), Andrea Hudson (Freelance), Larry Karazewski (Filmmaker), Dave Karger (TCM), Elisabeth Karlin (Film Essayist), Glenn Kenny (RogerEbert), Peter Keough (The Arts Fuse/Boston Globe), Harry Knowles (Aint it Cool), Richard T. Jameson (Film Comment), Mark Johnson (Awards Daily), Kevin Laforest (Extra Beurre), Eric Lavallee (IONCINEMA), Pascal Le Duff, Marcos Levy (Freelance), Craig D. Lindsey (Nashville Scene), Rod Lurie (Filmmaker (Paris Freelance), Wesley Lovell (Cinema Sight), Wade Major (KPCC-NPR Los Angeles), Eric Marchen, Philip Martin (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette), Scott Mendelson (Puck), Jared Mobarak (The Film Stage), Brian Owens (Artistic Director, Calgary International Film Festival), Michael Patterson (Michael's Telluride Blog), Gerald Peary (The Arts Fuse), Miguel Pendas (BFI), John Powers (Fresh Air), Claudia Puig (USA Today), Emanuele Rauco (Venice Film Festival), Mara Reinstein (US Weekly), Timothy Rhys (Movie Maker), Rene Rodriguez (Miami Herald), Ruben Rosario (Miamiartzine), Jordan Ruimy (World of Reel), Shade Rupe (Filmmaker), Dan Sallitt (Filmmker), Ian Schultz (Hyde Park Picture House), Niles Schwartz (Freelance), Steven Shaviro (Freelance), Jason Shawan (The AV Club), Don Shanahan (Film Obsessive), Yael Shuv (Time Out Tel Aviv), Alex Simon (The Buffalo News), Amie Simon (Three Imaginary Girls), Kyle Smith (The New York Post), Jeff Sneider (The InSneider), Christopher Schobert (The Buffalo News), Michael Sragow (Film Comment), Tony Joe Stemme (Freelance), Marlow Stern (The Daily Beast), David Sterritt (Christian Science Monitor), Sara Stewart (New York Post), Drew Taylor (The Wrap), Tommaso Tucci (IONCINEMA), Kent Turner (Film Forward), Benjamin Tovias (Yedioth Ahronoth), Richard Von Busack (Good Times Santa Cruz), Mel Valentin (That Shelf), Daniel Waters (Filmmaker), Max Weiss (Baltimore Magazine), Jeffrey Wells (Hollywood Elsewhere), Armond White (National Review), Matthew Wilder (Filmmaker), Chuck Wilson (L.A. Weekly)