Coppola presents honorary Palme d’Or to lifelong buddy George Lucas at Cannes
Cannes, May 26 – George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola reflected on their lifelong bond as the ‘Godfather’ director, who just presented ‘Megalopolis’ at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, feted the ‘Star Wars’ visionary with the honorary Palme d’Or on Saturday night, reports ‘Variety’.
Before Lucas received the award, he was greeted in the theatre by a several-minute standing ovation, a Cannes expression of appreciation, during which he gave the crowd a thumbs-up and got a little teary-eyed, ‘Variety’ notes.
When Coppola came on stage, the two embraced and exchanged some private remarks.
In his speech, Coppola recalled his first meeting with Lucas, who shadowed him on the set of his film ‘Finian’s Rainbow’ in 1968.
The auteur recalled those days and said: “Pleased to have someone in my own generation, I suggested he come every day, but only on one condition: That he come up with a brilliant suggestion every day, which he consistently did.”
Coppola continued by saying: “And with that began an association that has lasted a lifetime. And he went on and on, making film history, story history, business history, and now history in France.”
He also mentioned, according to ‘Variety’, that when Lucas was rejected by the owners of the ‘Flash Gordon’ comic strip when he pitched a film adaptation, “he looked at me and he said, ‘Well, I’ll make my own movie, I’ll call it ‘Star Battles’ or ‘Star Wars’ or something.’ And so he did, and in the process risked everything he had to make it.”
Accepting the award, Lucas said, “I can’t thank all of you enough because I’m just a kid that grew up in a vineyard in Modesto, California, who makes movies in San Francisco with Francis.”
Looking back on his nearly 60 years in the film industry, Lucas added that “it’s definitely a different world” now.
Lucas and Coppola, to quote ‘Variety’, “held hands as they walked across the stage to take photos together with the award, supporting each other in more ways than one.”
