Francis Ford Coppola doesn't go for obvious choices. After all, you might expect the director of The Godfather films to spend the rest of his days reclining on a bed of laurels and/or remaking Carry On films for sacks of cash. But instead he's making 'personal' films ("We're not allowed to say arthouse anymore, because it's the kiss of death") like the forthcoming Tetro, which he told us a little about in the new issue of Empire.
"As I grow older, I realise that I always wanted to be a writer," said the director, who - sure enough - wrote the screenplay for this tale of a 17 year-old sailor called Bennie (Alden Ehrenreich) who arrives in Buenos Aires in search of his lost brother Tetro (Vincent Gallo), a poet. When he finds him, the pair reflect on their troubled past with domineering composer father Carlo (Klaus Maria Brandauer).
"This is not an epic about immigrants in 1905, like The Godfather or anything. This is a real, specific drama, albeit poetic drama. I think Tetro is the most beautiful film I've ever done in terms of how it was made. I don't know what people will make of the picture, but just the filmmaking part of it, I've learnt to put it together beautifully."
The film will be out late this year, but to read more in the meantime - you guessed it - pick up a copy of the magazine, on sale now.