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‘Godfather’ director Francis Ford Coppola to speak on ‘Mola Living Live

Inforial (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, January 22, 2021

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‘Godfather’ director Francis Ford Coppola to speak on ‘Mola Living Live (Courtesy of mola.tv)

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ho doesn’t know The Godfather movies? The American crime film trilogy, about a mafia family in America, were released in 1972, 1974 and 1990. It has since become an oft-cited cultural reference and also defined a genre.

The films were directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who has won five Oscars, six Golden Globe Awards, two Palmes d’Or awards and a trophy from the British Academy Film Awards. The film has also forever embedded the characters of Vito and Michael Corleone onto the faces of Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, respectively.

Other than the landmark trilogy, Coppola is also known for such cinematic classics as Apocalypse Now (1979) and The Outsiders (1983). He cited American Broadway director Elia Kazan as one of his greatest influencers.

Fans will be thrilled to know that Coppola, 81, will appear as a speaker on Mola Living Live, to be broadcast live on Mola TV on Saturday at 10 p.m.

The interactive program will see the director sharing stories about his life experiences, covering its ups and downs, failures and successes and how all these have contributed to his self-growth.

The interview itself will be conducted by former Indonesian ambassador to the United States Dino Patti Djalal, with Indonesian cineaste Rayya Makarim.

Apart from his most iconic flicks, as a person, Coppola himself has a highly fascinating biography. Just like so many of us, he has faced numerous adversities in his life. For instance, Coppola actually spent the majority of his childhood surviving polio, which rendered him bed-ridden most of the time, costing him his social life at an age when playing with one’s peers is supposed to be our most cherished memories.

Yet Coppola’s long illness as a child actually gifted him his most valued asset: creativity. He used his imagination to escape the confines of his bedroom, aided by books such as A Streetcar Named Desire, which has been adapted into a very famous Broadway play (no wonder he named Kazan as a director who has marked his creative epiphany).

Maybe a lot of homebound individuals during the COVID-19 lockdown can also relate to the feeling of isolation right now, and they can gain insight from the director on how to nourish their minds even within the limited confines of their homes.

From there, he started producing his own homemade puppet plays and even developed 8mm features edited from home movies. The lively and dramatic realms of literature and theater have actually fed his interest in film, to which he has dedicated his life.

Mola TV’s interactive live discussions aim to brings viewers prominent global figures who share their life experiences to hopefully inspire others with how they coped with adversity and bounced back from failure, along with the lessons they learned from these experiences.

The audience can interact with the guest speakers through a question-and-answer feature available on the Mola TV platform. Viewers can find a lot of interesting stories from Coppola, who has earned a reputation as a big risk-taker in his career.

For instance, his creative vision often ran counter to the commercial concerns of the film studio executives he was working with. Fortunately, he found a way to navigate these opposing interests and this way, he has been able to produce films that have won critical acclaim by staying true to his creative vision, turning him into a role model for filmmakers everywhere.

Furthermore, viewers may also be interested in how they can take such risks in balancing pragmatic and idealistic concerns in their own careers or maybe even personal lives.

Viewers can also get some tips on how to sustain one’s creativity from him, who is currently finishing a film project called Megalopolis, which he has been writing and rewriting for years. At the age of 81, he is still creatively robust and is hoping to be able to finally finish the ongoing project someday soon.

Viewers can also learn more about Megalopolis, a futuristic film that portrays a beautiful, positive and visionary — simply put, a utopian — future.

“I’m very excited about interviewing Coppola, especially after having interviewed [American actor, director and producer] Robert DeNiro [who played the young Vito Corleone on The Godfather II] a few weeks ago. I’ve admired Coppola, the legendary film director, since I was a kid. He’s very selective about taking on new film projects and is also a perfectionist,” Dino said.

Dino also mentioned Coppola’s other film projects that had become iconic as his very own personal favorites.

“For instance, I still remember the war scenes from Apocalypse Now vividly,” he explained.

Dino continued that in the upcoming Mola TV show, besides digging deeper into Coppola’s life principles, work ethics and creativity tips, he would also ask his views on various subject matters, including his impressions about Indonesia.

Mola TV representative Mirwan Suwarso said the Mola Living Live program promises to bring audience members prominent figures who have earned international fame, representing a wide range of sectors — all guaranteed to be on top of their game.

For instance, on Feb. 5, the program will bring you American action film icon Sylvester Stallone, while on Feb. 25, it will feature 1970s disco icon, actor and singer John Travolta, who rose to fame through films such as Saturday Night Fever and Grease, released in 1976 and 1977, respectively.

“We are committed to presenting content that is not only high-quality but also entertaining and illuminating, so we can help build Indonesia’s competitiveness on the global stage,” Mirwan said.

Viewers who have tuned into this program since its launch in 2020 can tell that it has consistently presented prominent figures who have won international acclaim, such as American boxer Mike Tyson, actress Sharon Stone, French film director Luc Bresson, American film directors Daren Aronosfky and Spike Lee.

All of them have openly shared life experiences, hardships and lessons that are in some ways personal but also universal at the same time.

You can watch the entire program by buying any Mola TV subscription package, which start from Rp 12,500 (89 UC cents) per month. You can access Mola TV either via its application (available on both Appstore and Playstore) or mola.tv.

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