Francis Ford Coppola

Do Twixt next.

That was a joke, please don't subject yourself to that movie.

One from the Heart (1981)

This is a film that is generally not widely viewed and yet well known as the beginning of the end of the Coppola from the '70s we all revere. The movie that bankrupted Zoetrope Studios and subsequently "forced" Coppola to direct the ho-hum string of movies in the 1980s and 1990s to pay it all back. The movie that chose to go entirely with sets, miniatures, and do nothing on location at all to both the effect and detriment of the movie. That movie. But now I've finally watched it, and despite some film people being pretty mixed on it (peeking at Letterboxd there are some film aficionados who view the movie as a masterpiece) I can conclusively say that I hated One from the Heart and found it to be an almost total failure of an experiment and a grueling viewing experience that tries the viewer's patience and interest from the opening frame.

One from the Heart is about one couple containing two of the most miserable and unappealing leads you're apt to see in a movie. Hank (Frederic Forrest) just can't take this relationship anymore because... uh... well he said so, so I guess that's why. And Frannie (Teri Garr), well she's also through with the relationship because... uh... well she said so too. In all seriousness though, for all the money and effort that went into the sets, brilliantly showy Vittorio Starraro lighting, and sheer scope of the project it's inexcusable for Coppola to give us such a flop of a central through line for these shallow, dull characters and thus their entire reasoning for pushing the flimsy plot in the direction it goes in the first place. They say they're in love, make love, say "Happy Anniversary!" and then proceed to break up because he wanted to make dinner at home and she wanted to go out. Why filmmakers insist on thinking by plopping us into the downfall of characters we don't know and don't care about without any real pretext will work is beyond me. What follows is the both of them meandering around "Las Vegas" (but really an obvious recreation of the same two blocks of casinos that sometimes works but never can get past its own artificiality) to hushed songs from Tom Waits about love and misery and more bullshit. While doing so, they each bump into lovers, both have sex with their lovers, but both obviously still have feelings for each other and of course will end up together even if none of it makes sense at all. There are no real events that happen, and the routine of seeing these two aimlessly stroll around to these music cues gets irritating very quickly.

Perhaps most surprising is despite the showy colors, big crane shots, and fake wall trick photography that Coppola has clearly painstakingly designed, One from the Heart has no energy, passion, or life. This is billed as a musical, but it really isn't at all. Only a couple of songs are diegetically sung and they both stink, and while the "streets" of Vegas are bustling they don't feel alive at all. None of this is helped by the clear staginess of the film's look (Coppola also has still backdrops of the city that don't implement moving lights to simulate cars, or hotel room lights which adds to the stilted and peculiar nature of the movie) but Coppola wanted to indulge in a sort of poetic, magical realism he sure isn't having fun with anything. You always have to give a filmmaker, especially one with the pedigree of Coppola and coming off the most impressive decade for a filmmaker in cinematic history, some credit for taking risks and experimenting with the medium, and it seems like the positive reviews focus on just that. Its defenders note the lighting, the intricate set design, and the soaring camera movements as signs that this is still the same Coppola from his past four films.

And yet they casually brush off the putrid storytelling and characterizations of the film as if they're only minor issues. They're monumentally bad ones, and Coppola's blithe focus on them is what crushes One from the Heart and solidifies it as the notorious flop that it is. This is one of those frustrating stories about love where the two characters are only not together because they force themselves not to be, don't get back together because again they choose not to be, and then get back together because they finally say okay let's do this thing again. There's no conflict keeping them apart. There's no conflict that draws us in. There's no supporting characters furthering the plot. Hank isn't a chronic gambler. Frannie isn't an exotic dancer trying to change her life. These are cliched Vegas storylines, yes, but at least they're something. All Coppola can muster up is two miserable, toxic people wander around under the bright lights of Vegas and people will care about their plight. Except that no one did, and One from the Heart is a far bigger disaster than even legend could conjure it up as.

4/10

Cotton Club is insignificant and forgettable, but it never made me angry like One from the Heart did. The first 15 minutes felt like 45. Very dull movie. Very bad Coppola.

Now that people are talking about Godfather III again it reminded me, not sure if I mentioned this before but Francis Ford Coppola stopped by the Mandalorian set last year (I wasn't on the show at the time). I believe he was taking a look at the stage for Megalopolis. Not sure if that's a go or whatever since that's been talked about for years and years but if 80 something FFC wants to do that hey why not?

I wouldn't say him making it is "likely" exactly, but streaming services have been throwing around money pretty loosely (and unsustainably) lately so I wouldn't say it's impossible.

We can pretend the Rainmaker was his last movie.

Silver lining, SnoBorderZero. At least Jack wasn't his last movie.