During the recent AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony, Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg named an iconic gangster movie as the best American movie ever made. Prior to this, the American Film Institute had also previously chosen Spielberg as the recipient of the 23rd AFI Life Achievement Award in 1995.
What is the best American movie ever made, according to Steven Spielberg?
Together with Star Wars creator George Lucas, Spielberg has presented director Francis Ford Coppola with the 50th AFI Life Achievement Award. During his speech, Spielberg praised Coppola’s classic 1972 epic gangster film The Godfather as the best American movie ever made, while also expressing his admiration towards Coppola’s fearlessness as a filmmaker.
“The Godfather, for me, is the greatest American film ever made. Many artists can and do take a bow from their work on a page, on a canvas, on a screen, but our applause for you, Francis, is from a different kind of audience. When we’re young, it’s our parents we want to make proud, and then it’s our friends, and then it’s our colleagues, and finally, it’s our peers, but you, sir, are peerless.” Spielberg said as part of his speech for Coppola, “You have taken what came before and redefined the canon of American film, and in so doing, you’ve inspired a generation of storytellers who want to make you proud of their work, proud of our work, and I always want to make you proud of my work.”
The Godfather was directed by Coppola from a screenplay he co-wrote with Mario Puzo, based on the latter’s best-selling 1969 novel of the same name. Its star-studded cast included Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Richard Conte, Sterling Hayden, and more. The movie currently holds a Certified Fresh rating of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.
(Source: Variety)
