One From the Heart (with Logan Kenny)

The Godfather. The Godfather Part II. The Conversation. Apocalypse Now.

It's hard to think of a director with a better consecutive run than Francis Ford Coppola in the 70's. The winner of five Academy Awards and nominee of 7 more during the decade, Coppola was quickly being hailed as the greatest American filmmaker of his generation. Sure, the "Apocalypse Now" shoot was notoriously troubled and nearly killed the director, but he was in the lucrative position to make whatever the hell he wanted in 1981.

Based on a desire to work within a controlled environment after the unwieldy "Apocalypse Now" shoot and to boost his burgeoning Zoetrope Studios, Coppola set his sights on the musical "One From the Heart." But what was supposed to be a $12 million love story shot exclusively on sound stages, soon became a $26 million fiasco that saw Coppola selling his beloved Zoetrope Studios and spending the next decade on studio hired jobs trying to pay back to his debts.

Critic and writer Logan Kenny rejoins the podcast for a look back at Coppola's first major disaster. Featuring an ensemble cast headlined by Teri Garr, Raul Julia, Natassja Kinski, and most forgettably, character actor Frederic Forrest in the leading role, "One From the Heart" was a near career-ending disaster at the time, but has been reappraised ever since its re-release in 2003. Was Coppola's love story overshadowed by his desire to push technical boundaries? Does Dean Tavoularis' ingenious set design and Tom Waits' gorgeous score salvage a paper thin love story? Is Frederic Forrest a leading man? Did anybody look better on screen during the 80's than Natassja Kinski? Join us now for a melancholic trip back to the artificial Las Vegas of Coppola's dreams.

You can find Logan's writing on The Film Stage and Letterboxd.

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