Wednesday, August 16, 2006

An Addendum to the Addendum

It may appear that I didn't like the Copalla event, which is not true. In fact, I liked it and him very much. I liked how he talked about his struggle with writing, I liked how he talked about how to make decisions on set when you don't quite know what to do, I like when he talked about his father and growing up in a household chasing his father's dreams, I liked when he talked about wine making, and advice he had for young filmmakers.

Let's not get things confused. The man made the two Godfathers, the greatest movie+sequel ever made. He is without a doubt, one of the greatest Artists American cinema has known. He has spawned two other filmmakers, been a producer of experimental films, a mentor to countless young movie brats of the George Lucas generation. The guy is a heavy weight boxer in film history. And he also seemed like a fun guy to sit and talk about movies with.

Mr. Copolla did what many artists aspire to do - stretch himself to the depth of his own creativity - and leave it all out on the field, so to speak. Copolla left something out in the jungle in the Philipines and it's been clear to anyone whose paid attention to his career, that he hasn't been the same since then. He has had a second career as a winemaker and restuarantuer. I'd take his career any day of the week.

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