Stephen Presents: Francis Ford Coppola (Extended)

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Stephen Presents: Francis Ford Coppola (Extended)"

Podcast Information:

• Title: The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert
• Host: CBS
• Episode: Stephen Presents: Francis Ford Coppola (Extended)
• Release Date: November 26, 2024
• Description: An in-depth, extended interview with the legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, exploring his latest work, cinematic philosophy, and personal insights.

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Introduction

In this special extended episode of The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert, host Stephen Colbert engages in a comprehensive and heartfelt conversation with the esteemed filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. The episode delves deep into Coppola's newest film, "Megalopolis," his views on the evolution of cinema, personal anecdotes, and his enduring legacy in the film industry.

Setting the Stage: An Invitation to Conversation (03:25 - 08:40)

The episode begins with Stephen Colbert welcoming listeners and introducing Francis Ford Coppola. The initial segment features light-hearted banter between Stephen and Becca, the show's associate producer, setting a relaxed and friendly tone before the main interview commences.

• Becca: "This is extended. This is a mega. Extended interview." [03:28]
• Stephen Colbert: "Please enjoy. Happy Thanksgiving. This is Francis Ford Coppola on the Late Show POD Show." [08:29]

Meet Francis Ford Coppola: A Cinematic Legend (08:40 - 11:05)

Stephen formally welcomes Coppola, highlighting his illustrious career with mentions of iconic films like "The Conversation," "Apocalypse Now," and "The Godfather." Coppola shares his enthusiasm for the interaction, bringing a bottle of his finest wine, Rubicon, symbolizing his passion for art and craftsmanship.

• Coppola: "This is Inglenook, which is actually the oldest winery of the Napa Valley. It was founded in 1870. And this is our very best wine, Rubicon." [09:26]
• Stephen Colbert: "Cheers. To art." [10:06]
• Coppola: "To art. To the future." [10:14]

The Genesis of the Extended Interview (10:20 - 11:05)

Colbert recounts how a playful joke about Coppola's new film led to the filmmaker accepting the invitation to the podcast. This segment underscores the mutual respect and admiration between the host and guest.

• Stephen Colbert: "I said, hey, I totally disagree. It looks beautiful. I'd love to see it. Please, come on, so we can talk about it." [10:20]
• Coppola: "I've always thought Stephen Colbert was a truly excellent mime." [11:02]

Exploring "Megalopolis": Ambition and Innovation (11:05 - 16:11)

The core of the interview centers around Coppola's latest film, "Megalopolis." Stephen shares his initial impressions, praising the film's ambition and unconventional narrative structure. Coppola elaborates on his desire to break free from traditional cinematic conventions, aiming to create a film that challenges and expands the audience's experience.

• Stephen Colbert: "I was refreshed. It is a hopeful thing to see someone of your artistic talent trying something like this that I've never seen before." [12:50]
• Coppola: "I wanted to make a movie that was the way I saw it now and not follow the rules, so to speak. Because, you know, there's a line in the movie when you jump into the unknown, you prove you are free." [13:00]
• Stephen Colbert: "Why did you want to make this movie this way?" [13:43]
• Coppola: "We have more control over things than we want to agree that we want to allow. You'd be amazed how much power we have." [31:17]

Cinematic Philosophy: The Evolution of Art (16:11 - 25:50)

Coppola shares his insights on the changing landscape of cinema, emphasizing the influence of international filmmaking and the importance of artistic freedom. He reflects on the challenges and triumphs of directing, the role of actors, and the transformative power of storytelling.

• Coppola: "Cinema art is always changing. It's always changing and developing from artist to artist from the times and the period." [23:04]
• Stephen Colbert: "Do you ever watch each other's films? Because you would show each other your stuff." [24:16]
• Coppola: "Actors do it. The director is there as a kind of coach just to help them to say something useful at the right moment." [33:12]

Personal Reflections and Legacy (25:50 - 35:22)

The conversation takes a personal turn as Coppola discusses his late wife, his connections with other film legends like George Lucas, and the enduring impact of his work. He touches upon his emotional journey, the significance of mentorship, and his aspirations for future generations.

• Coppola: "I know if they ask that question, is the society we're living the only one available to us? The answer will be no. We could do this and we could do that." [35:22]
• Stephen Colbert: "Maestro, I hope you're right." [36:03]

Closing Thoughts: Art, Time, and the Future (35:22 - 37:12)

In the concluding segment, Coppola shares his vision for "Megalopolis" to inspire societal reflection and improvement. The episode wraps up with Stephen expressing his gratitude and admiration, reinforcing the profound connection between artist and audience.

• Coppola: "Art is a matter of manipulating. We have control over time." [30:22]
• Stephen Colbert: "Maestro, I hope you're right. Megalopolis is in select theaters and available to stream now." [35:22]
• Coppola: "If I could have a dream, it would be this. It wouldn't be a big check. It wouldn't be a lot of awards. It would be that every New Year's Day, people watch this movie." [35:22]

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Coppola on Artistic Freedom: "I wanted to make a movie that was the way I saw it now and not follow the rules, so to speak." [13:00]
• Stephen on "Megalopolis": "I was refreshed. It is a hopeful thing to see someone of your artistic talent trying something like this that I've never seen before." [12:50]
• Coppola on the Future of Society: "We have more control over things than we want to agree that we want to allow." [31:17]
• Coppola on Acting and Directing: "The actor is an extraordinary artist because his instrument is himself." [33:12]
• Coppola's Vision for the Film's Impact: "We could do this and we could do that, and that's what we should do, is we should make it better by being able to ask all the questions." [35:22]

Conclusion

This extended interview offers a rare and intimate glimpse into Francis Ford Coppola's mind, illustrating his relentless pursuit of artistic excellence and his deep-seated belief in the power of cinema to effect societal change. Stephen Colbert skillfully navigates the conversation, allowing Coppola to articulate his cinematic philosophy, personal experiences, and hopes for the future. For fans of Coppola and cinema enthusiasts alike, this episode serves as a treasure trove of inspiration and reflection.

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Additional Resources:

• Watch "Megalopolis" on select theaters and stream on Paramount+.
• Explore more exclusive clips and interviews on The Late Show YouTube Channel.

Transcript

[Stephen Colbert]

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[Francis Ford Coppola]

One of a kind. Ebay had it. And now everyone's asking, ooh, where'd you get your windshield wipers?

[Stephen Colbert]

Ebay has all the parts that fit my car. No more annoying, just beautiful. Whatever you love, find it on eBay. EBay. Things people love.

[Becca]

Hey, everybody. You're listening to the Late Show Pod Show. My name is Becca. I'm an associate producer here at the show. I work on the podcast, and I'm joined by the one and only Mr. Stephen Colbert. Hi, Stephen.

[Stephen Colbert]

Hi. Hi, Becca. So you're an associate producer here? Yes, at the show. But aren't you producing this right now?

[Becca]

I'm producer of the podcast, but I'm an associate producer at the TV show part.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, we're not doing the TV show right now. We're doing the podcast. You're a producer.

[Becca]

I'm the podcast producer. Thanks, Stephen. Thank you. That's. That's on the record.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's not even a promotion. That's just a fact check. You're not getting any more money.

[Becca]

But we come up, we come. This is. This is payment enough. This is great. We get to hang out. Same here.

[Stephen Colbert]

Same here.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

I would do the podcast for free, and I think I do.

[Becca]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, we just. It's a fun time where we get to talk ahead of some podcasts that we're playing over break because we're not on. We're not airing new episodes this week. It's Thanksgiving week.

[Stephen Colbert]

We're off for Thanksgiving week. We're not usually. We do a couple shows this week, but just. I don't know where the super bowl is falling or something. The calendar just worked out that we have the whole week off. And what a lovely year to have a week off.

[Becca]

What a lovely Year to have a week off. Yeah. Because Thanksgiving can be harder when you have the double show you gotta do. We tape two shows in one day.

[Stephen Colbert]

Usually this is especially if you've, like, you're doing a double show and you don't realize it, but before you went on stage, you have burst your appendix.

[Becca]

Oh, my God.

[Stephen Colbert]

Which was. What was last year was last. The Tuesday we did a double show. I woke up that morning in agony, and I thought, this will go away. This is indigestion. Yeah, this is. I have a stomach bug. Something like that. And then I thought, oh, maybe I have a kidney stone. And then by the time the second show was over, I'm like, oh, no. I think I'm. What's the word? Dying.

[Becca]

I can't believe I brought you a ginger ale. Rewrite. And I thought, that's really helpful, Becca. His tummy is a true.

[Stephen Colbert]

I have no memory.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

I have no memory.

[Stephen Colbert]

What I do remember is lying on the couch in the rewrite room and not really talking. Someone else read the entirety of two shows to me. And then I held my thumb up or put my thumb up or thumb down on individual words. It was. It's an adventure. I learned a lot about how stupid I can be.

[Becca]

You gotta know your limit. You gotta say, I'm not feeling so good today.

[Stephen Colbert]

The most I will do with internal bleeding is two shows. That's as much as I can possibly handle, man.

[Becca]

Well, this year we're doing great. How you feeling?

[Stephen Colbert]

I feel fantastic.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'm running out of organs to burst.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Who are we talking? Who is the person today?

[Becca]

This is a fun one today.

[Stephen Colbert]

They're all fun. They're all fun ones.

[Becca]

This is extended. This is a mega. Extended interview.

[Stephen Colbert]

Is a megalopolis. Ly extended.

[Becca]

It is indeed.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow.

[Becca]

It's Francis Ford Coppola.

[Stephen Colbert]

This was truly, what a pleasure to talk to Frankie Copes about Megalopolis.

[Becca]

Yeah. So he sort of invited himself onto the show in a fun. You invited him?

[Stephen Colbert]

We made a joke about basically that Kamala Harris could get people to cheer for anything. And then at one point, you know, we pretended that she said, who wants to go see Megalopoulos? And silence from the audience. And I didn't feel great about that joke. It worked really well in the room. But I literally thought, like, I don't know this movie. I respect Francis Ford Coppola. So I said, hey, I totally disagree. It looks beautiful. I'd love to see it. Please, come on, so we can talk about it. And he immediately said, I would Love to come on. But he complimented me by saying that I've always thought that Stephen Colbert was a very gifted mime. And I thought he said mind.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

I was like, well, that's nice. He called me a gifted mime.

[Becca]

He's a real fan of the show because.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, I know he's. He understands, like, all the references and everything, but I just have never been complimented on my meme.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Before.

[Becca]

Yeah. And, yeah, it's really sweet of him. Yeah. But you've done a lot of object work, right? Yeah, it has worked.

[Stephen Colbert]

Second City doing.

[Becca]

But I love that that was his reason why.

[Stephen Colbert]

Like.

[Becca]

Sure, I'll come on.

[Stephen Colbert]

Because I enjoy his mind work.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Great conversation. I mean, truly and real artist. Like a great artist, swinging for the fences. However anybody feels about Megalopolis, there is no doubt that that is a craftsman who has decided to take all the governors off his storytelling and just say exactly. Quite overtly how he feels about creativity.

[Becca]

Yeah. No, exactly. And we had to cut so much of it out for broadcast because we can only air so much.

[Stephen Colbert]

How long did we talk?

[Becca]

You talked for over 28 minutes. I think about half an hour.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Wow.

[Becca]

And I think we aired, you know, maybe 12 of that. Something like that. And we kept it demagogues because that's what he was on to promote.

[Stephen Colbert]

But there's a lot more about his career coming up in this. In this podcast, Right?

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

He drank, and we drank a lot more red wine.

[Becca]

Yes. Yeah. He brought some of Coppola Vineyards Best.

[Stephen Colbert]

Everyone should bring red wine or any liquor at all to the interview. It just really smooths out the edges.

[Becca]

Yeah, no, it seemed really fun. It was a nice, flowing chat. And he talked about directing. He talked about, like, being young, being friends with George Lucas, and, like, seeing Star wars the first time. It's a cool. It's a cool. I loved hearing it. Yeah. You have a favorite Francis Ford Coppola movie you got.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, I mean. I mean, listen, Godfather, Godfather will run the conversation. Apocalypse Now. Like, I mean, just the man wrote Patton. Like, if he'd only done. If he'd only written Patton and done the Godfather, he'd be a legend, oddly. So that's all. Great accomplishment. Strangely, my favorite Francis Ford Coppola movie, it was not directed by Francis Ford Coppola. He produced it. It was an American Zoetrope production, which I give him credit. I know what producers do, and so I know that he saw this and helped make this a reality. And so this is not taking anything away from what he created. But I associate him so closely with the Black Stallion, which I saw at just the right age. I think I was 13 years old, and I just lost my father. Or not just before. And it was such a meaningful movie to me. And unbelievably, Renee Zellweger's father. Not Renee Zellweger. Did I say Renee Zellweger? I meant Zooey Deschanel. Zooey Deschanel's father is the cinematographer on it, I believe.

[Becca]

Cool.

[Stephen Colbert]

And the most gorgeous cinematography of all time.

[Becca]

Yeah. Cool. Oh, I gotta check it out.

[Stephen Colbert]

Ever seen it?

[Becca]

No, I've never seen it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, kiddo. Yeah, Please watch it and then call me. Or maybe we'll do a podcast just about that movie.

[Becca]

Okay, great.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's a ridiculously beautiful movie that captures a sense of childhood adventure, like a fantasy of childhood adventure and also childhood bewilderment and heartbreak, like, in a real way with very little dialogue. I think the first half of the movie, there might be, like, 10 lines of dialogue entirely. Gorgeous.

[Becca]

Beautiful. Oh, I'm really excited. Yeah, I'll watch it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Becca]

Movie club. Yeah, we'll talk about it.

[Stephen Colbert]

But get the best quality you can watch it in, like, if you can see it in 4K or something like that.

[Becca]

Okay, cool.

[Stephen Colbert]

Because it tells its story. Yeah, it shows you its story.

[Becca]

Okay, cool. Yeah, I'm excited about that. Yeah. No. Francis Ford Coppola. I was in a high school literature and film class, which everyone tried to get because it's just watching movies in school. But I had this great teacher who every year, like, the final sort of project that you did was he rented out the small, tiny independent movie theater in Wilmette. The Wilmette Theater. And we watched Godfather 1 and Godfather 2 in the theater. And in the intermission, he got Maggiano's Catering for all the kids.

[Stephen Colbert]

We used to go to Maggiano's.

[Becca]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Y. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Becca]

So you just eat a bunch of lasagna between the two very long movies. But it was so awesome. It was so sweet, and it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Sure, sure.

[Becca]

It was the first time I saw either of those movies, and it was the perfect way to see it. Yeah. Right back to back. But, yeah, this is a great. This is a great extended conversation with a film legend, with a cinema legend.

[Stephen Colbert]

A privilege.

[Becca]

Yeah. All right. So please enjoy. Happy Thanksgiving. This is Francis Ford Coppola on the Late Show POD Show.

[Stephen Colbert]

Welcome back to the Late show, folks. My next guest is a Academy Award winner who has directed some of the most iconic films of the 20th century, including the Conversation, Apocalypse Now. And the Godfather, his latest film is Megalopolis. Please welcome to the Late Show Francis Ford Coppola. Maestro, wonderful to have you on. We've never had a chance to talk before.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Never.

[Stephen Colbert]

And before we get into it. And I want to get into it. Okay. Because I saw your movie last night, and we got to get into it. I understand. And I'm pleased to say that you brought us a little something to share here today. And would you share with the folks what we got right here?

[Francis Ford Coppola]

This is Inglenook, which is actually the oldest winery of the Napa Valley. It was founded in 1870. And this is our very best wine, Rubicon. And it's an exceptional year, 2015. And I've actually opened it and let it breathe a little bit. And there you go. And, yes, this is the real stuff.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, that is. That is. That is ruby, baby. That is good. That is nice. Is this what. Give me. What's my profile going to be here? Notes of leather and BlackBerry.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

I don't do that.

[Stephen Colbert]

You don't do any of that stuff.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

You just drink it first. You have a big. With your. Put your nose. Your nose is your laboratory. Ooh.

[Stephen Colbert]

The results are coming in. Oh, that's fantastic. That is gorgeous. Cheers. To art.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

To art. To the future.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay, so I just want to take a moment to talk about how I got here to have the pleasure and the privilege of talking to you. Back in September, we made a joke about your film Megalopolis, and I immediately followed up the joke by saying, look, Francis, if you're watching it looks beautiful to me. I want to see it. Please, come on, so we can talk about it. And you, the next day, put up this.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

I've always thought Stephen Colbert was a truly excellent mime. So, of course, Stephen, if you see the film Megalopolis, I'll be happy to come on your show and talk to you about it.

[Stephen Colbert]

I was thrilled. Thank you.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

But do I say me mime, or mime?

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, here's the thing. When I saw that the first time, and I said, oh, for 100%, let's have Francis on if he can come on. Is that. I thought you said he was a truly excellent mind. I only heard later that you said mime, which I'm going to assume is still a compliment.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

It's a great.

[Stephen Colbert]

Thank you.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

I think you're very an artist. The way you do, the way you handle that. You must have trained to.

[Stephen Colbert]

I did. I did a lot of object work when I. When I was younger. Yeah. Doing improv and stuff like that. You don't have props, so you do objects.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

But I never knew whether to say meme or mime.

[Stephen Colbert]

France, meme here, mime, you know.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

You know, my dad was a flute player, and he was the first flute of the NBC Symphony. And he said then he was a flautist. And I said, dad, what's the difference between a flutist and a flautist? He said $50 a week.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay, we. I want to say that. I want to. I want to say this about Megalopolis. There's been a lot written about this. I won't say it's controversial, but there are a lot of different, strong opinions in different direct on this film. I saw it last night. I kind of think it's above my likes or dislikes because it is a film of such soaring ambition. And what I found so beautiful and refreshing about it was that you don't seem to give a damn about the conventions of the experience of going to see a movie you even have a break in the middle of, or a live actor comes out and has a conversation with the main character or ask questions of the main character of the movie. And I was refreshed. It is a hopeful thing to see someone of your artistic talent trying something like this that I've never seen before. Why did you want to make this movie this way?

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Well, you have to understand that, you know, the fast food industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars to develop a potato chip that you become addicted to that you can't stop eating.

[Stephen Colbert]

The bliss point.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Yeah, you just keep going back. And the movie industry does the same thing. They want you to go to a movie as if you know exactly what the experience is going to be. So they'll know for sure you'll go. They basically want it to be like Coca Cola. They want something that's familiar to you. And cinema art is always changing. It's always changing and developing from artist to artist from the times and the period. And so, you know, I wanted to make a movie that was the way I saw it now and not follow the rules, so to speak. Because, you know, I mean, there's a line in the movie when you jump into the unknown, you prove you are free. Well, as an artist, I want to be free.

[Stephen Colbert]

To freedom.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

To freedom. To freedom.

[Stephen Colbert]

No, we have a. We have a clip right here. Before we go to it. Did you need to set this up? This is Adam, I think, talking, but.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

This is near the conclusion. This is what the movie is really saying, that, you know, people don't say it. But number one, we're one human family. If everyone in this audience and around the world, if you go back, we're only 300,000 years. Our species has existed, but we all have the same grandparents. And so we're one family. And they don't say it, but I believe that we're a species of geniuses, that we can do things. We are capable of doing things that no other creature can do. We can solve any problem put in front of us if we'll just realize that we have that talent. And that's what I, that's what this movie tries to sell tell to the audience is that we're capable of solving the issues in front of us of climate and all the difficulties. We're extraordinary. And that's what this film tells the movie at the end. This is it, Jim. Let it not be said that we reduced ourselves to be brutes and mindless beasts of burden. The human being shall rightly be called a great miracle and a living creature for all to admire. We are such stuff as dreams are made of.

[Stephen Colbert]

As you can see, as the audience can see, it's full of beautiful design.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Well, you know, I feel that the future can be glorious and can be wonderful and we could leave a world for our children that is like worthy of them. And instead we're bogged down in a lot of old fashioned squabbles and nonsense when we have the opportunity now to really rise above it. And that's what I hope will happen. Not for me, for my grandchildren and my great grandson to give them a future that they're worthy of and that they are entitled to.

[Stephen Colbert]

We have to take a quick break. We'll be right back with more Francis Ford Coppola. Everybody stick around. Blinds.com's Cyber Monday last chance is happening now. Don't miss out on up to 45% off site wide. A blinds.com design expert can help you make the perfect selection on your schedule. We can handle everything from measure to.

[Becca]

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[Becca]

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[Francis Ford Coppola]

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[Stephen Colbert]

Hey everybody, we're back with the director of the new film Megalopolis. It's Francis Ford Coppola. There's a lot going on in this film and boy, some of the performers are really enjoying themselves. For instance, Aubrey Plaza is absolutely just peeling the paint off the wall throughout this entire thing as the character wow Platinum. And I hope someday to play a character named anything as good as wow Platinum as her character. But this film, you say like these are old squabbles. These are really old squabbles. Because one of the influences of this, if I'm not incorrect, it's the Catilinarian orations that Cicero did in the Senate in 63 BC.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

The premise of the movie briefly is that America was founded on the idea of Rome. We wanted to be. We didn't want a king, so we wanted a republic, which is why we have a senate and why we have Roman law. But we repeated the same mistake Rome made 60 AD, which is we allowed our senators and congressmen and leaders to be more interested in their own wealth and power than in taking care of the country. And consequently. And so, you know, Rome lost its. Rome, which wanted so much not to have a king, lost its republic and ended with an. With an emperor Augustus. So I hope we haven't ended up with that. But we seem to have totally lost our republic as for what it was intended to be. And that was what the movie was showing, the parallel between ancient Rome and modern America.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, the parallels were striking to me. Not so much in a one on one, but how they were represented in this film. Because, and I don't mean this pejoratively, I didn't follow everything that was going on. Cause it is quite a meal, this film.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

But that's the fun of it because it's meant to be seen More like Apocalypse now is meant to be seen more than once every time you see it. And it's not boring. It's always interesting, I think. I hope.

[Stephen Colbert]

No, no, no.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

But whenever you see it, it changes and it becomes something else. And those of you who have seen Apocalypse now perhaps more than once, it's not the same picture after you see it twice or three times, and they're still looking at it 50 years later.

[Stephen Colbert]

But the chaos of the film, the things. That's more the parts that might have sort of thrown me in terms of following the straight narrative of this movie, which, if you sit down and really lay it out, there is a straight narrative in here. But it's presented in chaotic ways that represent the chaos of the time that you're describing.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

They're presented in a new way. It's not the same illusion you're used to. It's asking you to enter into the movie in a different door. Movie is just an illusion. There's no emotion on that screen. The emotion is all in the audience. And if the audience doesn't buy the illusion, then to them they say, oh, it's not good, or it's not moving because they're not accepting what the illusion is. And sometimes a movie does it in a new way, and it takes a little bit of time for that to ultimately become the norm. Which is what happened with Apocalypse, which.

[Stephen Colbert]

I also think is what's happening with America right now. Is that the actual confusion that I felt in watching the chaos of the movie felt most resonant to how I feel about our country right now, which.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Is confusion, which is what it's expressing, because it's basically America is going through what rome went through 2,000 years ago, which was a destruction of its system and giving. Rome didn't. We didn't want a king. We didn't want King George from England. So we wanted a republic with Roman law and we followed Rome. But Rome itself lost its republic and became. Ended up with a king. And that's just what we don't want.

[Stephen Colbert]

There's a lot of Marcus Aurelius quotes in this film. Definitely. I have a favorite Marcus Aurelius quote. What's yours?

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Well, I recently lost my wife of 60 years. We used to watch your show together. It was a great joy. We used to love it when you were doing. During the pandemic, when your wife would be your best.

[Stephen Colbert]

My only audience.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

But you're wonderful. She was so encouraging to you that we really enjoyed that. So, you know, I lost my wife, my first wife, my only wife of 60 years. And I turned to Marcus Aurelius, who in effect said, if you lose the loved one, try to be more like the good sides of them. Because then in trying to be like them, they'll live within you and you'll keep. You'll keep them in your life. That was.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's beautiful.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Very helpful.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's beautiful. Doesn't even sound as stoic as you think it would be. You and your friends, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and William Friedkin. When you were young guys first on the scene in Hollywood, were you aware that you were changing Hollywood while you did it, or were you just having fun?

[Francis Ford Coppola]

We were unique in that we had two views of cinema. We had the great Hollywood, which had this wonderful giant filmmakers like William Wyler or George Stevens or Lewis Milestone or John Huston. There were greats in Hollywood, but at the same time we saw that there were greats in Japan and in France and in Italy. Italy alone had, after the war, 50 great movie directors and Sweden. So we had sort of a double view of cinema fueled both by the Hollywood vision and by this extraordinary foreign art film version. So when we went to Hollywood and after the Sound of Music and west side Story, the Hollywood companies didn't know what to do next. We knew what to do next because we were so full of inspiration from all these multiple plus. We had people like Stanley Kubrick and Orson Welles and John Frankenheimer. So there were so many giants. We wanted to copy that. Of course, we knew what we wanted to do. We wanted to make films like they did, like Kurosawa did, or like Antonioni did, or like Fellini did. So we were triply inspired.

[Stephen Colbert]

Did you ever watch each other's films? Because you would show each other your stuff. Did you ever show each other one of your films? And everybody just went, yikes, That's a stinker.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Well, there is a famous story where George, who was originally an apprentice of mine, he was a 19 year old kid, that George Lucas. George Lucas. And when he showed us all the first, we all went to see in a screening, his first screening of Star wars. And there were no spaceships in it yet. There was a lot of old World War II fighter planes and there was no music. And we all looked at this and said, George, you got a lot of problems here, you know. And George says, yeah, well, I'm going to have all these effects in this great John Williams score and stuff. And sure enough, he did. And the rest is history with George.

[Stephen Colbert]

Is it true that there was a Star wars character that was based on you. And is it Chewbacca?

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Chewbacca was George's dog called Indiana, who used to sit next to him in his Chevrolet Camaro.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wait a second. So Indiana Jones is really named after the dog?

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Well, yes, the dog. His name was Indiana, and he used to. And that was Chewbacca because he used to sit next to George in his Chevrolet Camaro. I was based more on Han Solo because George thought I was always nutty to jump into the biggest mess that I could think of and assume I would get out of it in peace. He thought I was reckless.

[Stephen Colbert]

So. Also because of the sexiness?

[Francis Ford Coppola]

No, I don't think.

[Stephen Colbert]

Have you ever been people's sexiest man alive? I'm just curious.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Well, I'm the sexiest great grandfather alive.

[Stephen Colbert]

Have you showed the. Have you showed the gang Megalopolis?

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Oh, well, you know, I haven't. Not all of them. I know Stephen was very encouraging. A lot of them or. I haven't heard from everyone yet. I figured, you know, the film really takes. Some movies take a little while to think about and see another time. This idea that you go to a movie and you eat it and it's fast food and that's. It is not what art is like. Art is. There are many kinds of art and the idea. People always say to me, what's your 10 favorite movies? I said, ask me what my thousand favorite movies are. We are sitting on such a tradition of great cinema that goes back only 100, what, 20 years? But, I mean, the masterpieces in the silent era alone, there were 50 of them. We are rich in beautiful art. We are so lucky, we human beings.

[Stephen Colbert]

Every time. I completely agree. So every. Every. I know. I know we're way over time here, but I don't care. When do I get to talk to Francis Ford Coppola?

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Take it home with your wife. Share the.

[Stephen Colbert]

Take this home with my wife.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Take this bottle. What's left?

[Stephen Colbert]

She's out of town, baby. It's just me and this bottle for the rest of the night. So. Okay, so I saw it with my wife and kids last night and some of their friends and, like, the most. Like, there were times when, literally, like, we were clapping like this for the screen. And it was those times when I didn't necessarily even understand what the character's choice was. But there were big choices being made, big performance choices, and larger than life. Not even just larger than human, because it's on film or it's being an observed medium. Right off the bat, I'm not giving anything away. When I say right off the bat, in the very first scene of the film, your main character, who is Cesar Catalina, played by Adam Driver, he stops time. Again, there's no spoiler. It happens right away, and it's in the trailer as well. Why does he use the stopping time so selectively throughout the rest of the movie? Because shouldn't he be a superhero then, and stopping time and fighting crime and stuff like that? Because you would sell some tickets, brother, if you did that.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

You know, it's whether you sell tickets now or over 50 years. My films sell tickets over 50 years. All artists, you know, basically, and the movie explains it. All artists control time for the first time. That someone in a cave painting took a gazelle and made a picture of it. They were stopping that gazelle. The great poet, German poet, Goethe, said that architecture is frozen music. Filmmakers go back and forth in time. To be an artist means you control time. To be a lawyer means you build by it. That's. No, seriously, art is a matter of manipulating. We have control over time. Anyway, time is possibly a fiction. I mean, what is time? You know, you start ask questions like that, you run into a lot of conundrum. So. But I know there's a scene where they're on top of 50,000ft and they kiss each other for the first time. That's because if you really kiss someone seriously, you might as well be 5,000ft in the air, because your whole life is about to change and the life of everyone you love is about to change. So sometimes scenes are metaphors or they're standing for something bigger than what the simple story idea is. And the film is entitled to try to express that.

[Stephen Colbert]

Did you know Severin Darden?

[Francis Ford Coppola]

I know who it is.

[Stephen Colbert]

Severin was one of the original members of Second City, where I was in Chicago. So I knew a bunch of Severin stuff, and Severin used to go out there and explain things. As a professor from the University of Chicago, he was once asked by someone, what is time? From the audience ask me that, what is time?

[Francis Ford Coppola]

What is time?

[Stephen Colbert]

I understand that was time.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Well, you know, we live by time, but I don't feel we should be controlled. I have stopped time in my life several times when I was particularly joyous. And I just say, I want this moment to be frozen. And it was. We have more control over things than we want to agree that we want to allow. You'd be amazed how much power we have. But when you have people saying, oh, human beings, those kind of people are just animals. Those kind of people are just nothing. That's absurd. All human beings are great. And if anything, if the reason you're told you're not great is because you're better sheep to line up and be sheared by not being great. Let's face. You know, if you think about it. If you think about it, they probably spend $8 trillion a year on advertising. And what is advertising but selling a little bit of happiness to people? Well, you can't sell happiness to happy people. So does that mean you have to keep them unhappy so they make better customers? Maybe. Maybe that's what's going on.

[Stephen Colbert]

I know we gotta go. I know we gotta go here, but just a quick question.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

We can stop time.

[Stephen Colbert]

I know I have editors. Do you ever. Are you ever watching tv? And you come upon one of your own movies and go, I'm gonna watch.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

You know, the only time it ever happened was once I was in England and I was watching on a little cheap television in a not so expensive hotel, and they said Apocalypse now was on. And I always liked the beginning of Apocalypse now because it ends with Jim Morrison singing this is the end at the beginning, which I always thought was funny anyway, so I wanted to see the beginning. But then I ended up watching the whole picture. And I realized that Apocalypse, which had been so damned as a terrible, undecipherable movie, really had sort of come of age. And it had. Either it changed movies or it had changed, but I watched the whole thing. I said, my God, this movie isn't so weird. And that's what happens. The avant garde stuff of yesterday becomes the wallpaper and the stuff you hang up of tomorrow. Art is constantly changing and turning into something.

[Stephen Colbert]

What is a director's job?

[Francis Ford Coppola]

A director is like the ringleader of a big group event. He's the one. He's the one sort of coordinating and trying to hold it all together. But one thing a director doesn't do is he doesn't. He's not that thing of, oh, I got a great performance out of actors. Directors don't get great performance out of actors. Actors do it. The director is there as a kind of coach just to help them to say something useful at the right moment. Not, you know, the actor. The actor is an extraordinary artist because his instrument is himself. In other words, he doesn't have a cello between him and the audience. He is the cello. It's very difficult to be a great actor.

[Stephen Colbert]

Do you.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Can I give you a fast tip of how a director works?

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, please.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

You know, the French Connection. Gene Hackman plays this wild guy with the little hat.

[Stephen Colbert]

Popeye Doyle. Yeah.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

He told me. He said, I had no idea who I was. I had a funny hat, I had a funny accent. I had no idea what I was doing, and I talked funny. But I went to the coffee and I took a doughnut in the morning breakfast there, and I dipped the doughnut in there. I took a bite and threw it on the ground. And a voice said, that's him. And it was Billy Friedkin, the director. And he said, once he said, that's him, I knew who I was and I could play the part. That's what a director does.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow. Wow.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Just as a coach, he says the right thing at the right moment. He tries to.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, it's been such a pleasure to talk to you and to drink your wine, and. Which I love is Rubicon, because for.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Those of you who don't know, 1915.

[Stephen Colbert]

2015. 2015.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

You know, I once had. Believe it or not, this is a great story. I once had a glass of wine, chateau Margaux from 1780. It was the same wine, essentially, that Jefferson had tried, and it was great. That's the thing about wine.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's how he got those great ideas. Well, Declaration of Independence in a bottle right there.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

But it lives. This wine will live another 70 years. It's the great thing about this wine.

[Stephen Colbert]

I hope I live another 70 years drinking this wine. Well, what I love is that it's called the. It's called Rubicon. Which, of course, Caesar crosses.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Right.

[Stephen Colbert]

And cannot go back. That is the moment, really, of the end of the Republic is when he cannot go back.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

That's jumping into the unknown. That's freedom.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's using your army against your own people.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Well, no, he didn't use his army.

[Stephen Colbert]

But he brought the army over.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

He brought the army over.

[Stephen Colbert]

Over the Rubicon Wasn't allowed to.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

He wasn't allowed. And that began a civil war. It's true.

[Stephen Colbert]

So the movie's out in the world now? Yes. People have their own opinions about it. Some people love this movie. Some people do not love this movie. Some people are confused. Some people are drawn to it like I am, even though they may not understand everything about it, but. De gustibus non disputandemest. And I was wondering how you would like this movie to live on after this moment. What do you hope for this movie?

[Francis Ford Coppola]

If I could have a dream, it would be this. It wouldn't be a big check. It wouldn't be a lot of awards. It would be any of that, it would be that every New Year's Day, people watch this movie, and instead of going home and saying, I'm going to give up smoking or I'm going to give up drinking or I'm going to lose weight, they ask this question, is the society we're living in the only one available to us? And to be able to ask any question on how to make it better? Because I know if they ask that question, is the society we're living the only one available to us? The answer will be no. We could do this and we could do that, and that's what we should do, is we should make it better by being able to ask all the questions.

[Stephen Colbert]

Maestro, I hope you're right. Megalopolis is in select theaters and available to stream now. Francis Ford Copel, everybody. Thank you for listening to the Late Show POD show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives. God, I love this job. Now streaming on Paramount.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Plus, I can't decide if firefighting is going to save that kid or get him killed.

[Stephen Colbert]

Are you sure you're ready to do this? TV's hottest show is back.

[Becca]

It's a new beginning for both of us.

[Stephen Colbert]

We're out of time. The fire's here. Pack up the pace.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Go, go, go, go, go.

[Becca]

I have to do this myself.

[Stephen Colbert]

For me, Fire country new season streaming on paramount. New episodes, CBS, Friday at 9. 8 Central.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Roll out.

[Stephen Colbert]

Transformers 1 is now streaming on Paramount.

[Francis Ford Coppola]

Awesome. It's the blast from beginning to end. Okay, stop. I'm in. Transformers 1, PG.

[Stephen Colbert]

Now streaming on Paramount.

[Becca]

Plus.