Love Is Love Is Love. Conversation with Eleanor Coppola about her last film
Eleanor Coppola is an American documentary filmmaker, artist, and writer. She is married to director Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather Trilogy, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now) and the mother of Sofia (The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, On the Rocks) and Roman (A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III), both directors. She met Francis while working on the set of the 1962 horror film Dementia 13, where her position was assistant art director. Eleanor is most known for her 1991 documentary film Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse as well as other documentaries chronicling the films of her husband and sons. Her film contribution consists mainly of documentaries in which she is director, cinematographer and screenwriter. Among her works to remember, in addition to the documentary on Apocalypse Now: Making of The Virgin Suicides (1998), Francis Ford Coppola Directs John Grisham's The Rainmaker (2007) and The Making of Marie Antoinette (2007). She then directed two feature films: Paris Can Wait (2016) and Love Is Love Is Love (2020).
Love Is Love Is Love just world premiered at the Deauville Film Festival in France on September 7, 2020. The film is an anthology of three stories: Two For Dinner, stars Chris Messina and Joanne Whalley, renders each relationship's obstacles with a light touch and naturalistic ease; Sailing Lesson, stars Kathy Baker and Marshall Bell as a long time married couple that spend a day on a sailboat hoping to rekindle romance, and well, unexpected events arise; Late Lunch a tragic loss brings together a disparate group (including Cybill Shepherd, Rosanna Arquette, and Rita Wilson) for a memorial meal hosted by their mutual friend's daughter (Maya Kazan, granddaughter of film director Elia). The title of the film combines the three stories that explore themes of love, commitment and loyalty within the couple and between friends.
Thanks to Mrs. Eleanor Coppola, to the executive producer Anahid Nazarian and to Hiro Narita
How did you come up with the idea of Love Is Love Is Love, which you, in addition to directing, wrote together with Karen Leigh Hopkins?
These stories started from the seed of an experience I had or heard about, and then I embroidered on that initial event or idea. After I wrote the first draft I gave it to Karen Leigh Hopkins and we began to collaborate. She added more humour and additional ideas. We worked back and forth until we finalized the project.
What can you tell us about the casting choice?
I was very privileged to work with wonderful actors who brought so much experience and creativity to the project. I had actors in mind, however, they were not all available so I had a casting team find others. I met five or six for each role and chose those who most closely fit my vision of the character.
Sailing Lesson, episode of Love Is Love Is Love
Which of the three stories satisfied you the most?
Perhaps Late Lunch, because it was more complex and more of a challenge.
In 2016, you directed your first feature film, Paris Can Wait. It stars Diane Lane, Alec Baldwin. Is there a common thread that unites the two films?
My films are stories focused on experiences familiar to women.
Love Is Love Is Love’s episodes were photographed by three different cinematographers: Toby Irwin, Mihai Mălaimare Jr. and Hiro Narita. Why the choice of using different cinematographers?
Two for Dinner, episode of Love Is Love Is Love
I knew Mihai Malaimare, Jr. from his work with Francis and I have great regard for his aesthetic. I was happy he was available for Two for Dinner. I met Toby Irwin through my son, who had worked with him and knew he was an excellent cinematographer and also an expert sailor, which was essential for shooting on a sailboat for Sailing Lesson. Hiro Narita is someone I’ve known for many years and I have long admired his work. I was thrilled he was available. Late Lunch was the most complex of the three short films and I needed a DP with his depth of experience and easy personality to shoot ten actors together on a small set.
What can you tell us in particular about your collaboration with Hiro Narita?
Hiro is a quiet, serene presence on set and a willing collaborator. We talked about the look of the film and he created exactly what I was hoping to achieve. He was a master in a very difficult shooting situation which involved ten actors around a table talking back and forth. Matching is extremely difficult and coverage, that is beautifully shot, is great art. He worked with elegant ease.
As for the locations, other than San Francisco, where did you shoot?
Late Lunch was shot in San Francisco, but Two for Dinner and Sailing Lesson were shot in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys.
Late Lunch, episode of Love Is Love Is Love
Love Is Love Is Love is produced by American Zoetrope, founded in 1969 by your husband, legendary director Francis Ford and George Lucas. What can you tell us about your first meeting with Francis Ford on the set of Dementia 13 (1963)?
I had never been on a movie set before. Francis was the very dynamic writer and director at the heart of the production. He captured my heart. I was the Art Director’s assistant.
You are a successful documentary filmmaker. In your documentaries, you capture the struggles that have endangered your family's films before they made it onto the big screen. Through your film work, you are able to illustrate not only what goes into a film financially, but also capture the emotional toll filmmaking has on the individuals. In documentaries, you have acted as director, cinematographer, videographer, and screenwriter. The title Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is derived from the Joseph Conrad 1899 novella Heart of Darkness, the source material for Apocalypse Now. The film was presented at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival to universal critical acclaim. What can you tell us about that mythological film and the resulting documentary?
Francis has spoken extensively about Apocalypse Now as have critics and scholars. During the making of the documentary, I tried to capture Francis’ creative process and the extraordinary experiences surrounding the production.
How are you and your family experiencing this historic moment of the pandemic? The film industry is among the sectors most affected and the cinemas, temples of the seventh art, are suffering from the usual participation of the public. What is your opinion?
We had the good fortune to be living on our winery property where a number of family members joined us and isolated together for months. With production shut down, some took to writing work for the future. Sofia had a film premiering at the New York Film Festival in September. The screening took place in a drive-in theatre in New Jersey. Our granddaughter Gia had a film premiere at the Venice Film Festival. She was tested for Covid frequently and wore a mask at all times. Our lives are continuing, but differently.
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