ONE FROM THE HEART
Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola.
Produced by: Armyan Bernstein, Gray Frederickson & Fred Roos.
Written by: Armyan Bernstein & Francis Ford Coppola, based on a story by Bernstein.
Director of Photography: Ronald Víctor García & Vittorio Storraro.
Edited by: Rob Bonz, Rudi Fehr, Anne Goursaud, Michael Magill & Randy Roberts.
Music by: Teddy Edwards & Tom Waits.
Released by: American Zoetrope/Fantoma Films.
Country of Origin: USA. 100 min. Rated: R.
With: Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Raul Julia & Nastassja Kinski.

DVD Features: Disc 1: Director's commentary; isolated score track. Disc 2: Making-of documentary. "The Dream Studio" Zoetrope Studios documentary. Tom Waits music documentary. Electronic cinema documentary. Demo recordings/alternate music takes. Deleted and alternate scenes, with some director's commentary. Videotaped rehearsals. Photo gallery. Film studio press conference footage. Footage of director's speech to exhibitors. Music video. Stop motion demo. Trailers. One From the Heart in the Trades: “Sound Recording and Post Production” & “Mating Film With Video”.

This restored edition of director Coppola's 1982 musical comedy is a strikingly experimental, beautifully told fairy tale. It conveys an operatic quality through the wonderful songs by Tom Waits, which are sung by him and Crystal Gayle in a subtle, suitably Vegas-lounge style.

Coppola envisioned the movie as launching not just Zoetrope Studios, but a new era in filmmaking in which the latest technology would be used to tell personal stories. While the production was meant to be cost-effective, reality collided with Coppola's desire to film live, or in real time, with multiple cameras and as little cuts between shots as possible. Soundstages were built on the studio's lot recreating Las Vegas before it was realized that the set was too extensive, that the cinematography would not work with so many cameras, and that the 10-minute length of a film roll hindered the shooting of the entire film at once. Thus, what was to be a downscale production ran over budget - resulting in a flop that bankrupted Zoetrope, but helped establish electronic filmmaking later standardized by the mainstream.

Judged on its merits, the film is mostly effective. Dean Tavoularis' production design and the neon lighting accentuate the story, adding an incongruous grandly romantic dimension to the tale of a working-class couple, Hank (Forrest) and Frannie (Garr). There are some major flaws, though. When the movie becomes abstract - which happens mostly in sequences featuring Hank's lover, circus performer Leila (Kinski) - it becomes too precious. Furthermore, the performances are stilted: Forrest's character comes off as a weirdo; Garr is muted, allowing her full comic energy to shine through in only a few moments; and Kinski is irritating - though this is perhaps due to the way her thankless part is written. The lone standout is the late Raul Julia - mischievous as Frannie's Latin lover. All of the cast members, though, seem to lack inner life - which might explain the viewer's reaction, indifference, to the lovers' fates.

DVD Extras: Coppola seems to have gone as overboard on the bonus features for this DVD set as he did with the film itself. Not that it isn't appreciated, but one's got to be either a Coppola buff, a huge fan of this film, or else really interested in its troubled production history to even want to pore through all of the excessive extras.

One learns from the director's commentary track that, as it turns out, this restored version isn't exactly the same film that was originally released: besides the obligatory digital enhancement, Coppola has added scenes, as well as rearranged some of the film's structure to reflect original choreography consultant Gene Kelly's input. (Coppola initially decided against his advice when first making the film. Kelly eventually walked off the production when it went way over schedule.) The isolated-score track is, in this case, a particularly innovative notion, considering how much of the film's impact is a result of its exquisite songs.

The "Dream Studio" doc chronicling the rise and fall of Zoetrope is a glimpse into Coppola's ideas for what might have been. Of special note is his idea for a four-day work week, with employees bringing in their family on Fridays to work on their own projects. There is also a particularly telling moment when Coppola lets his ego show, bullying a reporter who asks him a question about the film's financial troubles.

Though informative, one of the articles, on the film's post-production and sound recording, goes on and on, detailing more than anyone (except perhaps audio experts) would want to know about the dubbing of sound onto the movie.

However, the alternate/deleted scenes are a treat, illustrating the other directions the film could have gone. For instance, one direction Coppola was thinking of taking the film - as he explains in his commentary - was to have it be a story-within-a-story. One gets the impression, though, that his heart is still recovering from the failure of his original film, and that he would consequently not want to take a risk on what could potentially be a career-defining comeback. Alas. Reymond Levy
June 16, 2004