Francis Ford Coppola, the veteran American Italian film-maker behind The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, underwent a non-emergency medical procedure in Rome, according to his representative, who disputed earlier reports that he had suffered a mild cardiac arrhythmia.
“Mr Coppola went in for a scheduled update procedure with acclaimed Dr Andrea Natale, his doctor of over 30 years, and is resting nicely,” the representative said in response to Italian media reports that the director was hospitalised, adding “all is well.”
Coppola himself posted a message on Instagram after, writing to his followers: “Da Dada (what my kids call me) is fine, taking an opportunity while in Rome to do the update of my 30-year-old afib procedure with its inventor, a great Italian doctor — Dr Andrea Natale! I am well!”
Local media had reported that Coppola, 86, was admitted to Policlinico Tor Vergata, a public hospital, on Tuesday morning for an operation related to heart issues that had long been scheduled, but had experienced a mild cardiac arrhythmia before the operation and doctors had placed him under observation.
However his representative specifically disputed these reports as “not true.”
“There was not an emergency. He went to the hospital in a car,” the US representative said.
The Oscar winner is a frequent visitor to Italy, and in mid-July attended the Magna Graecia film festival in the southern Italian region of Calabria to present his latest film, Megalopolis. He had also been spending time scouting for locations in Italy for a new production due to begin filming in the autumn, Ansa reported.
On Friday, Coppola completed a six-city US tour to promote Megalopolis, according to Hollywood Reporter. It is unclear when he returned to Italy.
Speaking to the audience at the film festival in Calabria, Coppola, the winner of five Oscars, said: “Young people say the world is a disaster, but I reply that there is no problem man can’t solve.”
Megalopolis, his sci-fi epic starring Adam Driver, cost $120m that was largely funded through the sale of his vineyards. But reviews have been mixed, with the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw calling it a “bloated, boring and bafflingly shallow film”.
Coppola, however, appeared to have no regrets about his passion project. He said: “There are many people, when they die, they say: ‘Oh, I wish I had done this, I wish I had done that’. But when I die, I’m going to say: ‘I’ve got to do this and I’ve got to see my daughter win an Oscar and I’ve got to make wine and I’ve got to make every movie I wanted to make.”
The director, whose wife, Eleanor, died in April last year, added: “And I’m going to be so busy thinking of all the things that I’ve got to do that when I die, I won’t notice it.”
With Reuters
