Francis Ford Coppola on his favourite crime drama: “As perfect as any film I’ve ever seen”
Before The Godfather was released, many thought it would be yet another pulpy gangster flick with cheap thrills and gratuitous violence. However, Francis Ford Coppola surprised everyone with a complex masterpiece about the structures of crime itself, investigating the institution of organised crime and its intergenerational machinations within contemporary society. Since then, almost every film fan on the planet has considered Coppola to be an authority on the genre.
Starring the likes of Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, The Godfather is one of those rare cinematic gems that has managed to transcend the shackles of time and enter the realm of immortality. To this day, aspiring actors, struggling directors and even fledgling cinephiles start their respective journeys into the world of cinema by watching Coppola’s 1972 opus, searching for inspiration in one of the greatest achievements in the medium’s history.
During his time as a film student at UCLA, Coppola was introduced to a wide variety of art that became major sources of inspiration during the latter half of his career. One of those sources was none other than Akira Kurosawa, the Japanese auteur who redefined the art form with his sprawling epics like Seven Samurai and Ran. After witnessing the majesty of Kurosawa’s artistic vision, Coppola was immediately mesmerised by the philosophical foundations of his work.
In an interview segment with George Lucas, Coppola reflected on the unique way in which Kurosawa envisioned conflict in his movies. He said: “Violence was depicted in almost a poetic, surprising way that seemed to stem from those moments which startled you with violence and in the end, it went beyond just being gruesome. By being stunning and dramatic, (it) embodied the moment that was supposed to be expressed.”
Displaying his extensive knowledge of both world cinema and the evolution of American filmmaking, Coppola elaborated on the impact Kurosawa’s movies had on the New Hollywood movement. The director added: “And that became a style… originating from Kurosawa, through Peckinpah, Bonnie and Clyde, my own film, The Godfather. I think you could trace a line backwards from The Godfather to Bonnie and Clyde to Kurosawa.”
While Kurosawa’s samurai movies often get the most attention, it is his 1960 crime drama that captured Coppola’s imagination in a way that he hadn’t experienced before. “As perfect as any film I’ve ever seen,” he said of the first 30 minutes of The Bad Sleep Well, which stars Toshiro Mifune as a young man who sets out to avenge his father’s death in the spiritual void of postwar Japan. The movie also had a major impact on The Godfather, since Coppola drew inspiration for the wedding sequence from this Kurosawa work.
Watch the interview below.
