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Copplas's "Youth Without Youth"

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The Permalink doesn't work but Screen Grab posted a short item yesterday about Francis Coppola having begun to screen Youth Without Youth. The low-budget, European-shot film "was shown to invited guests at Lucasfilm's headquarters in the Presidio" within the last couple of days, the copy reads. Here's the uh-oh part: "The filmmaker's invitation stressed that the movie, Coppola's first in 10 years, is intended to be particularly personal, in keeping with 'the great cinema of Europe and Japan that had first inspired me to become a filmmaker myself."

In other words, a possibility exists that Youth Without Youth -- I'm very sorry to say this but I know the signs -- is a Nuart one-weeker waiting to happen. It may not be this at all, of course (and I hope it isn't), but the warning buzzer has sounded. When a filmmaker says to his friends (forget the press) that they need to adjust expectations before seeing it, you know it's probably an incomplete salad of some kind. A director saying "it comes from my heart" always means trouble. I wish it were otherwise.

If a movie is in the zone, you don't need to say anything. It is what it is and you don't need to lay down special silver or fine-cloth napkins.

The official website synopsis says that Youth Without Youth stars Tim Roth "as Dominic Matei, a professor whose life changes after a cataclysmic incident during the dark years prior to World War II. Becoming a fugitive, he is pursued through far-flung locations including Romania, Switzerland, Malta and India." The themes of the film, says Coppola, are about "time, consciousness and the dream- like basis of reality. For me it is indeed a return to the ambitions I had for my work in cinema as a student."

YWY also stars Alexandra Maria Lara (Downfall), Bruno Ganz (Downfall, The American Friend, Nosferatu), Marcel Iures (Peacemaker, Hartâ€™s War) and introduces Alexandra Pirici. The IMDB page says Matt Damon has a small role of some kind.

One could deduce from Coppola's remarks that Youth Without Youth may not have some or perhaps any of the usual qualities of strong narrative cinema -- a punchy-grabby beginning, story tension, a gathering thematic weight, a great ending (surprising, darkly ironic, gently meditative) and so on. Or maybe it does and Coppola is just being coy. The film may be wondrous on some level. Coppola has said that creatively he feels like he's 17. Maybe it's a new L'Avventura of some kind. I don't want to be cynical about this. I just know that whenever a filmmaker says, "Before you watch this film...," it's cuidado time

Youth Without Youth costar Bruno Ganz

Somebody who was at the screening (or who heard from someone who was there) said that "all the talk at the party -- in awestruck tones indicating that Coppola's aim had been fulfilled -- was about imagination and metaphor and vision." It's probably better to wait until someone who really doesn't care one way or the other has a chance to see it and share a straight-from-the-shoulder reaction.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on February 28, 2007 at 8:06 AM

comment #1

JD says ...

I don't get you, Jeff. On one hand, you pretend to admire films like au hasard Balthazar, L'Eclisse, and Last Days. But on the other, you condemn anything that isn't straight-up narrative cinema. When Coppola talks about his desire to make personal movies, the examples he cites are The Rain People, The Conversation, and Rumble Fish. For my money, these are three of his very best films and I'm anxious to see him return to this (or any) form of filmmaking. Stop belittling the masters, man.

Posted by JD at February 28, 2007 9:38 AM

comment #2

Noah says ...

This is coming from the guy who was convinced there must be something wrong with The Departed because it didn't screen at Toronto.

Posted by Noah at February 28, 2007 9:39 AM

comment #3

The Movie Man says ...

Or maybe Coppola is saying it because he's aware that most people in this country have become so afraid of anything that doesn't immediately fit a "type" or doesn't come with a 500 million dollar campaign telling us how much we'll love it.

Posted by The Movie Man at February 28, 2007 9:53 AM

comment #4

Colin says ...

I'm not sure if this was intended as a pun -- "A director saying 'it comes from my heart' always means trouble." -- but I love FFC's "One From the Heart."

Posted by Colin at February 28, 2007 9:56 AM

comment #5

christian says ...

come on jeff. jd is right.

you want it both ways: either they're artists or whores, but when they choose art you wonder why they're not whoring. do you think this will be competeing against FANTASTIC FOUR 2?

this looks fresh and it will be great to see coppola go back and make a more personal work.

Posted by christian at February 28, 2007 9:58 AM

comment #6

PaulKolas says ...

Jeff, as much as I've enjoyed being a part of your website, reading it for years, sometimes you drive me crazy with your ridiculous navel-gazing. Wait until YOU have seen the damn movie and THEN say what you have to say. Jesus Christ!!! I, for one, cannot WAIT to see what Coppola has made here. Youth Without Youth is one of the films on my absolute must-see list for this year. Who gives a shit if it plays well in Podunk, Iowa? Who cares if it doesn't KILL at the box office on opening week? I don't think Coppola is warning anyone that he's made an inaccessible film. The Conversation wasn't a box office hit in 1974, but does that make it any less of a great film 30 plus years later? It wouldn't make a dime today, but then it would be considered a low budget "indie" today instead of a general release film like it was originally. You're beginning to sound like box office means more to you than quality, Jeff, and I KNOW that's not you.

Posted by PaulKolas at February 28, 2007 9:59 AM

comment #7

The Movie Man says ...

Well done Paul.

Posted by The Movie Man at February 28, 2007 10:02 AM

comment #8

PaulKolas says ...

Thanks, Movie Man. And my kudos to your thoughts as well. How about this for an idea...a Celebrity Death Match between Jeff and Poland, the charity proceeds to go to The Society for Movies Made Without Box Office in Mind.

Posted by PaulKolas at February 28, 2007 10:09 AM

comment #9

cjKennedy says ...

I don't care if it is a 'Nuart one-weeker' because I'll be there that week to see it. Everyone else can suck it. Anyone who wants something else from him can go rent Jack for chrissakes.

The guy who made The Conversation, The Godfather and Apocalypse Now shouldn't need to qualify his film to anyone, but in a world where a blogger who professes to love movies but insists Scorsese keep churning out gangster pictures...well, what do you expect?

Coppola is a master and anything he makes should be anticipated with reverence and excitement. If you see it and it stinks, then by all means unload with both barrels, but at least wait until that time before pissing on everyone's campfire.

Posted by cjKennedy at February 28, 2007 10:20 AM

comment #10

storymark says ...

I liked this site so much better when Jeff wrote actual, thought-out columns. Now it's just a series of half-baked musing.

Posted by storymark at February 28, 2007 10:25 AM

comment #11

gruver1 says ...

Wells to bitch-and-moaners: if you had been to as many screenings as I have in which the director gets up and says "I hope you like it" and the the movie turns out to have problems, you'd start to realize that any kind of attempted set-up, any kind of explanation of the film's intentions and goals always means "watch it." ALWAYS.

Posted by gruver1 at February 28, 2007 10:25 AM

comment #12

Noah says ...

Seriously guys...and EVERYONE knows that Age of Innocence is referred to as "the cufflinks movie" by Jeffrey Wells and his collection of troll dolls.

Posted by Noah at February 28, 2007 10:28 AM

comment #13

T. S. Idiot says ...

As JD points out, The Conversation is one of FFC's personal films, yet it's still a masterpiece, probably the most unjustly neglected of American masterpieces, with one of the most perfect endings ever. Hackman gives one of the greatest performances I've ever seen. FFC doesn't get enough credit for his directing of actors.

Posted by T. S. Idiot at February 28, 2007 10:36 AM

comment #14

Dublin101 says ...

I'm backing Jeff, making excuses at a private screening for friends is a red light warning. Perhaps this new film will be interesting like "One from the Heart" but it may be another "The Rain People". Coppola's great success was the first two Godfather films where he successfully fused his artistic impulses with an engaging narrative. But let’s face it, those glory days are long gone and there is grounds for skepticism.

Posted by Dublin101 at February 28, 2007 10:38 AM

comment #15

cjKennedy says ...

Bitch-and-moaner to Wells: I'm not saying you might not be right, I'm saying this isn't just some screener. This is friggin' Coppola so give it a chance! Surely he's earned the benefit of a doubt despite recent missteps?

Posted by cjKennedy at February 28, 2007 10:40 AM

comment #16

gatsby1040 says ...

Scorsese, when asked about Coppola, Lucas, and Spielberg backstage at the Oscars:
"I just went up to San Francisco to see Francis and his new film, which is quite wonderful, at George's new theatre."

Coppola knows he shit the bed after Apocalypse Now, and YWY is his big attempt to return to greatness. Read his 'diary' entries at the YWY website. This isn't just another project-- Coppola is putting all the chips down on the table. YWY could be good, bad, or neither -- but let's cut him some slack before raising the warning signs, huh?

Posted by gatsby1040 at February 28, 2007 10:49 AM

comment #17

jjgittes says ...

"The Conversation" is my second favorite film ever and I'd rank Coppola's 70s work as unparalled in American film - in short I love the guy, through all his work, great, good or bad. I honestly was shocked that he was directing another film, so I am thankful that I'll get to see this. Plus he has "Tetro" in the works as well so he certainly seems rejuvenated......I'd love to see Scorsese hand the Oscar to Coppola next year.

Posted by jjgittes at February 28, 2007 10:55 AM

comment #18

jeffmcm says ...

Maybe Coppola is just nervous because he hasn't made a film in a decade. There are plenty of filmmakers who are never satisfied or comfortable with the movie they've made even if it's a masterpiece.

This is a non-story.

Posted by jeffmcm at February 28, 2007 11:01 AM

comment #19

corey3rd says ...

what's so "personal" about remaking The Blow Up as an audio movie?

And One From the Heart, just left me horrified that somehow critics think the public got this wrong. I bought the video and it pretty much destroyed date night - I got zero action on the sofa. And for the next few months, I had to endure bad "real romantic" films that she picked out.

Shouldn't a personal film from Francis Ford Coppola be about a wine, family, art and ego?

Posted by corey3rd at February 28, 2007 11:11 AM

comment #20

MilkMan says ...

I'm not too worried about Francis' latest movie, especially since I really liked his last three movies: The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, and Marie Antoinette.

Posted by MilkMan at February 28, 2007 11:19 AM

comment #21

jjgittes says ...

I don't think classifying "The Conversation" as a "remake" of "Blow-up" is remotely accurate. It simply takes a strand in that film and uses it as a starting point for something else.

The personal aspect of it comes in the way the Caul character resembles Coppola, the script details are very reflective of that.

It's a masterpiece and it's his best film in my book.

Posted by jjgittes at February 28, 2007 11:23 AM

comment #22

jeffmcm says ...

It also helps if you know what the Antonioni movie is actually called. The Conversation was always intended to be a combination of the European art movie and the American thriller. And it works.

Posted by jeffmcm at February 28, 2007 11:28 AM

comment #23

cjKennedy says ...

No offense Corey, but you sound like someone who hasn't seen either film. They might be playing a similar sport, but they're not in the same ballpark.

Posted by cjKennedy at February 28, 2007 11:35 AM

comment #24

lesterg says ...

Isn't Dave Matthews in this?

Posted by lesterg at February 28, 2007 11:40 AM

comment #25

MathewM says ...

Jeff's instincts suck. He couldn't even predict that The Departed would win Best Picture after it won editing honors. I could care less about the number screenings he gets to attend; the only thing that tells me is that he's jaded. Don't get me wrong, Jeff is fun to read but there's a reason he's writing a blog about the industry instead of working within it.

Posted by MathewM at February 28, 2007 11:42 AM

comment #26

Gabriel says ...

I think many of you are missing the point. It's not that Coppola said "this is a personal movie"; it's that he's saying anything. Jeff's right - MOST of the time, when a director feels especially confident in his/her work, no preface is necessary. If I went to an early screening of "There Will Be Blood", and Paul Thomas Anderson stood up beforehand and said "I just want to let you know in advance - this film is a bit different from the ones I've made in the past", a part of me would silently wonder, "Will this be his first miss?"

That said, I think "Youth Without Youth" SOUNDS like it'll be excellent; if it plays a week at the Nuart, I will be there along with cjkennedy.

Posted by Gabriel at February 28, 2007 12:21 PM

comment #27

corey3rd says ...

I've seen both the Blow Up and the Conversation...I've even seen Blow Out. It turns into the same film. someone keeps working over what they think is one thing on tape or film and slowly they discover they're part of something more menacing. Both guys at the end go nuts - sure in Blow Up it's falling in with mimes and in the Conversation he tears apart his place.

And as if to harp on the films referencing - there are mimes at the start of the Conversation.

If Francis had never seen Blow Up, would he have made the Conversation? Francis has said that he was "inspired" by Blow Up. It's only a "different" film because he didn't want to have to share credit or buy rights. He Cormanized it.

Posted by corey3rd at February 28, 2007 1:45 PM

comment #28

jeffmcm says ...

And that's a bad thing how?

Posted by jeffmcm at February 28, 2007 1:52 PM

comment #29

The Movie Man says ...

THE CONVERSATION is a great movie, it borrows from BLOW UP, (though not nearly as much as you seem to believe Corey) but it has a jittery anxiety that is undeniably the American 1970s. I don't think its Coppola's best (for me, that still GII) but its one of the major films of the best decade of cinema.

Corey-Francis next film is Tetro, and its about what family, ego, art and so forth.

Posted by The Movie Man at February 28, 2007 2:00 PM

comment #30

cjKennedy says ...

Corey, perhaps I'm just getting caught up in semantics again, but there's a difference between referencing, being inspired by or creating an homage to, and remaking. Your first post implied a ripping off and a lack of originality on Coppola's part which is crazy talk.

Posted by cjKennedy at February 28, 2007 2:53 PM

comment #31

jeffmcm says ...

Each of those three films is also significantly different in their artistic goals. Blow-Up is the most existential of three and most interested in hollow modern lifestyles. The Conversation is a character study about loneliness. Blow Out has a political subtext and is half satire.

Posted by jeffmcm at February 28, 2007 3:09 PM

comment #32

The Movie Man says ...

Good point on the three movies Jeffmcm. I would also like to say apropos of basically nothing, that I think Coppola's last film, THE RAINMAKER, while nothing extraordinary was a supremely likable, leisurely work, with a nice Mickey Rourke performance before it was hip to use him again (also see Rourke's superb pre-hip work in Penn's THE PLEDGE, another underrated movie.)

Posted by The Movie Man at February 28, 2007 3:24 PM

comment #33

corey3rd says ...

How is sitting in a theater, watching the Blowup and saying, Hey I can make a version about an audio guy any different from when Sergio Leone saw Yojimbo and decided how to turn it into Fist Full of Dollars? Or how Yojimbo relates to Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest.

While it'll be nice if Youth Without Youth turns out to be a great film, I've been burned way too many times with the "Francis is back!" storyline.

But at least I was able to get a chuckle with Keanu's "Dude, they're sucking my blood" moment.

Posted by corey3rd at March 1, 2007 8:47 AM

comment #34