Francis Ford Coppola's Reincarnation

Dec. 24, 2007— -- If you watch movies, it's hard to avoid Francis Ford Coppola. Films by the legendary director, producer and screenwriter have won five academy awards. He has produced some of the highest-grossing films of all time, such as "The Godfather," but also has won critical acclaim for the Vietnam War epic "Apocalypse Now," and the mystery thriller "The Conversation."

These days, however, Coppola seems little interested in praise or past glories. He is 68 years old, decades removed from his glory years when he towered over Hollywood as a brilliant, tempestuous and driven man. But he's not looking back.

"They were miserable days. They were horrible days of a lot of pressure," said Coppola. "It is one thing to have made a film and have it turn out to be successful, but during the time it is nothing but pressure and a million other people's impressions. To say that I miss it, I don't."

He was under enormous pressure for his signature film the "Godfather" and said he was threatened with being fired every week. Paramount had actually hired another director to follow Coppola around the set, just to remind him that he could be replaced at any moment.

"It was no fun at all," Coppola said of making "The Godfather." "Is it fun to get fired and told you're going to get fired every week that you don't like the actors? You don't like the music? No."

Now, after 10 years of silence, 10 years since his last movie, Francis Ford Coppola has made a new film and it's like nothing else he's ever done. It's called "Youth Without Youth," the story of an old man who gets struck by lightning, becomes young again and discovers love, reincarnation and the mystery of life. Coppola is clearly delighted with this experimental film, the kind of movie he said he'd always wanted to make.

"I said, 'Wow, this would be a really fun move to work," Coppola remembered. "And also it has something about me because I really would like to become a student filmmaker again."