The Rain People

Friday night, I watched Francis Ford Coppola's first personal film, one in which he wrote and directed. He made two films before - one, a Corman production and two, a musical - but this was his attempt at the Auteur, a European tradition of writing and directing personal stories that were, on some level, ripped from your heart and soul. This however, is not a marketable tradition. With that said, other than "The Conversation" (1974), Coppola didn't make another truly personal film until 2007 with "Youth Without Youth", a film that was literally liked by myself and five other people, in the world.

Where was he all that time? With "The Godfather", Coppola arguably became New American Cinema's first superstar director, and though he made numerous classics after this, he always felt he was never able to make the films he wanted to make. I had never seen "The Rain People" before viewing it Friday night, and I have to say, I was blown away. The screening was part of the San Francisco Film Festival honoring Coppola with its Directing Award. Coppola was in attendance, along with a few friends (George Lucas, Walter Murch, Carroll Ballard), and he stated himself, "Why a twenty-one year old kid was writing about a woman who was in love with her husband, but didn't feel ready or comfortable to be his wife, I'll never know..." It was personal. The film was beautiful, shot truly in an independent fashion. Coppola and crew loaded a large van up with everything they thought was needed to make a film, and they traveled across the country telling a story along the way. The idea still strikes me with uncontrollable salivations of artistic freedom.

And now we have him back, first with "Youth Without Youth" and now with "Tetro", a film that might be his most personal film yet. It deals with family rivalry, artistic loyalty, and everything in between; themes that are very close to Coppola's heart. I only hope, because of his fame, that these new personal films will expose to the greater public an artistic expression that has been buried with every blockbuster, action movie to hit the sprawling megaplexes.

There was a time when American Cinema produced more good films than bad films - 1970's, how I wish I was alive then - and hopefully another time such as that will come soon, but until then we'll have to rely on major cities and art house theaters to screen the emotions of America. Let's take "business" out of the "film business."