Reel Beach: Movies and awards abound for the Coppola family

By BERNIE FLETCHER

Awards season will soon be here. Can you name the only two families to have three generations of Oscar winners?

The Huston family were the first of “Hollywood royalty.” Walter Huston (1883-1950) grew up in the Cabbagetown area of Toronto and won an Academy Award for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). His son was the famed director John Huston (1906-1987) and his granddaughter is Anjelica Huston.

You may have heard of The Godfather (1972) from the genius of Francis Ford Coppola (five Oscars). The family patriarch was his father, the composer Carmine Coppola (1910-1991) who won an Oscar for The Godfather, Part 2. Francis Ford’s daughter Sofia Coppola won Best Original Screenplay for writing Lost in Translation (2003).

The younger generation of the Coppola clan were in Toronto last year filming two movies which are contenders for this year’s awards.
Sofia was here for Priscilla (in theatres now), the story of Priscilla Presley. Cailee Spaeny won the Best Actress Award at the Venice Film Festival for her moving portrayal of the young love of Elvis. Priscilla is playing at the Fox on Queen Street East in the Beach on Dec. 5.

It’s a Family Affair

Sofia’s cousin, Nicolas Cage (born Nicolas Kim Coppola) is also an Oscar winner. Cage filmed Dream Scenario (out on Nov. 22) here with scenes at the University of Toronto Scarborough.

For local movie fans, Dream Scenario is scheduled to be playing at the Fox on Queen Street East in the Beach from Dec. 4, 5, 6 and 7. On the night of Dec. 5 you could see a double feature of Dream Scenario followed by Priscilla.

It’s about an ordinary man, a professor, who finds sudden fame when he keeps appearing in the dreams of strangers. Cage’s father was Francis Ford Coppola’s brother, August, himself a college professor. Cage’s brother, Marc, is also in Dream Scenario. To complicate matters, Cage was once married to Priscilla’s late daughter, Lisa Marie.

Sofia Coppola grew up in the shadow of her famous father. She is known for writing and directing sensitive, coming-of-age films about the inner lives of young women who feel isolated and trapped.

Priscilla has been compared to Sofia’s first feature film, The Virgin Suicides (1999) which was shot in Toronto. Locations included St. John’s Norway Cemetery, outside the library at Monarch Park Collegiate, on the Monarch football field and at Scarborough Golf and Country Club.

Sofia’s brother Roman Coppola is an executive producer on Priscilla. The talented family includes Francis Ford Coppola’s sister, Talia Shire, nominated for an Oscar for The Godfather and Shire’s son, Jason Schwartzman who was in Sofia’s film, Marie Antoinette (2006). Sofia’s niece, Gia Coppola, is also a director. Sofia has dedicated Priscilla to her mother, documentary filmmaker Eleanor Coppola.

We’ll have to wait and see if the Coppola family adds any more gold statues to their mantle.