The 50th anniversary ofThe Godfathershould be a time to reflect on what many people feel is one of the greatest movies of all time. The film brought together such fantastic talent in one film. However, for director Francis Ford Coppola, he had other things on his mind. Like, “How did things ever get so far, for there to be so many awards?
Francis Ford Coppolaasked the question as to why awards season is getting bigger and bigger by the year. “There are too many awards shows now. I liked it when it was just theOscars,” Coppola toldVariety. He even goes on to say this: “Yet even theAcademy Awardshave become too much. I don’t like it so much as a big razzle-dazzle production,” Coppola added. “I like it more intimate, when they had a gentle quality that I think was nice.”
How Have Award Shows Changed?
The 2022 Oscars has made some changes for their upcoming ceremony. They cut nine categories, including original score, makeup and hairstyling, documentary short, film editing, production design, animated short, live-action short, and sound from the telecast. They will, however, be included during a pre-show segment and then edited into the live broadcast for the March 27th event.
Coppola had this to say regarding the new schedule: “All those [categories] are important. It seems odd, but I guess they have their reasons.” The reasons seem to be an attempt to network ratings after the 2021 Oscars' record low viewership. The director is not the only one who has spoken out about the new changes. Seth Rogen toldInsiderthat “maybe people just don’t care” about Hollywood industry awards. “I don’t care who wins the automobile awards. No other industry expects everyone to care about what awards they shower upon themselves,” Rogen said. “I don’t get why movie people care so much if other people care what awards we give ourselves.” Jimmy Fallon attacked the Academy’s decision to cut out nine categories, calling it “insulting.”
Coppola won his first Oscar in 1971 for Best Original Screenplay forPatton. The Godfatherlater landed ten nominations and three wins, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Marlon Brando, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Coppola. “There were so many negative thoughts about the picture at the time that I was very unsure and, quite honestly, astonished that it had this success,” Coppola said.
Right now,The Godfathercurrently has a limited theatrical release in Dolby Cinema at AMC theaters in the U.S. All threeGodfatherfilms have been restored by Coppola and will be available on 4K Ultra HD for the first time on March 22nd, 2022. The behind-the-scenes story of “The Godfather” is also at the center of Paramount+’s limited seriesThe Offer,starring Dan Fogler as writer-director Coppola. The Offer premieres April 28th, 2022. You can watch the 2022 Oscar award ceremony on March 27th on ABC.
