Coppola: A Biography

Cowie, founding editor of International Film Guide and author of several books on cinema, traces the career of the flamboyant director of The Godfather , Apocalypse Now , The Conversation and other controversial movies. Describing Coppola's filmmaking techniques and analyzing his plots, the author shows how the director's inventiveness, as well as such aspects of his personal life as his Italian heritage, have influenced his work. In Cowie's adulatory view, Coppola has continued to forge ahead boldly, undeterred by box-office failures ( One from the Heart and Gardens of Stone ), the ups and downs of Zeotrope, his film studio, or the tragedy of the death of his oldest son in a boating accident. Nevertheless, Coppola the man remains elusive in this biography. Illustrations not seen by PW. (June)