The Coppolas: A Movie Dynasty

You can do anything. But never go against the family.

Don Vito Corleone, The Godfather

Their tale is the stuff of legend. The Coppolas are one of the great American filmmaking dynasties, an immigrant family who have thrived in the Promised Land. But for every triumph there is tragedy. For every masterpiece there is a battle against the conformities of the system. For every Academy Award there has been blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifice.

The story is centred on two extraordinary filmmaking generations: father and daughter Francis Ford Coppola and Sofia Coppola. Each in different ways has defined their times. And of course, their stories are intimately entwined.

Francis Ford Coppola stirred up revolution in 1970s Hollywood, risking his fortune, his home, and his very sanity for his vision. But out of chaos he has given the world The Godfather films, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, and more.

Escaping the shadow of her father, Sofia Coppola has defined an equally personal style all her own, leading the way for women directors in Hollywood. Her radical yet elegant filmmaking has given us Lost in Translation, The Beguiled, On the Rocks, and more.

But the Coppola story encompasses so much more than the careers of two directors. There are subplots extending out across the clan to include Eleanor Coppola, Roman Coppola, Nicolas Cage, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, and others.

Storytelling runs in the blood.

The history of the Coppolas also holds up a mirror to the changing face of Hollywood and culture that crosses seventy years and three generations.

So this is a book about America, a land of opportunity and the template on which the Coppolas can forge their art.

This is a family saga, an epic, and an opera.