FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA - COPPOLA GETS MIXED GREETING ON RETURN TO FILMS AFTER 10 YEARS

Youth Without Youth, which marks Francis Ford Coppola's return to filmmaking after 10 years, received mixed critical reaction at the Rome Film Festival following its screening on Saturday. To those critics who urged Coppola to stick with doing what he does best, the director said at a news conference, "I think we should be tolerant of artists who want to break new ground, and not require them to make gangster films all their lives." Coppola also told reporters that his recent remarks about Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Jack Nicholson were quoted out of context. (GQ magazine had published excerpts from an interview in which Coppola had reportedly said in effect that the three actors had become content to rake in riches and rest on their laurels.) "I have nothing but respect and admiration for them," he said at the Rome news conference. "These are the three greatest actors in the world today and they are my friends. So I have nothing but affection for them."

22/10/2007