What came first, the hen or the egg? It’s not like I ponder over this extremely annoying question everyday. But for me, there has always been something fascinating about beginnings. How does life evolve, how do people build up a business and how does an artist start a new painting? When it comes to film, it is always interesting to look back at a director’s first – often shaky – steps with a camera on her/his shoulders. In this feature, I will look back at a certain director’s first film every month.
As far as film making goes, Francis Ford Coppola might as well be dead by now. This may sound harsh but it’s the truth – or did you even hear. anything. about his last film “Twixt“? Let alone the fact that he’s only directed three movies since the 1990s. However, there was a time when Coppola stood for some of the most instant classics of his generation. Followed by a time when there was at least the possibility of him putting out some quality movie material. Ironically though, Coppola’s career started almost the same way it is ending now – blandly. After a couple of low budget nudie shorts, his first feature film Dementia 13 was followed by a long stroke of critical and sometimes commercial success.
Although Dementia 13 is technically Francis Ford Coppola’s legitimate, “nice” debut, it still has a lot of cheap and B-movie elements. Naked skin is shown frequently and unnecessarily (only female skin of course), there is obnoxious, loud background music and the dialogue could have been written by a 5th grader. According to wikipedia (yes, that is a great source), it was supposed to be a cheap Psycho copy and that’s pretty much what it is. Except for the “exotic” setting in an Irish castle. And the lack of quality, of course.
There’s so much to criticize about Dementia 13 that it’s almost easier to say what was enjoyable about it. (long silence). It’s pretty short, at least. And some of it is unintentionally funny because of the stilted dialogue, the wooden acting and the B-movie-esque axe murders. It’s all entertaining enough for 1+ hour. However, as with many other Francis Ford Coppola films, this one has an interesting backstory that is worth reading through. Unfortunately, in this case, it’s much more interesting than the movie itself.
At least one could say that Coppola is finding his way back to his roots these days.