CANNES -- Francis Ford Coppola is back at the Cannes Film Festival, but not exactly in the way that earned him fame and notoriety here with the triumph of Apocalypse Now and The Conversation.

Those classics both won the Palme d'Or as best film in Cannes, in 1979 for Apocalypse Now and in 1974 for The Conversation. But his latest opus, the modest domestic drama Tetro, is not eligible for the top prize because it played here yesterday in the Directors Fortnight. Its exclusion from the main competition hints at a rift between Coppola and Cannes.

"This is an independent film," Coppola said yesterday after Tetro made its bow as the official opening film of the Fortnight, which is an independent festival-within-the festival. "And it doesn't feel comfortable for me to dress in a tuxedo and go on the red carpet with all the important people."

But Coppola was not given the kind of choice he wanted in the main selection. Cannes did offer Coppola the chance to present Tetro as a red-carpet gala on May 22 -- but out-of-competition because it is a work in progress.

"The situation was very similar to Apocalypse Now," Coppola said. His Vietnam War film was also a work-in-progress and Cannes did not want it in the competition in 1979, despite intense interest. Coppola balked. "I would only bring Apocalypse Now if it was in competition."

With Apocalypse, Cannes relented -- and it won. But, with Tetro, there was no compromise. "So I said: 'It is the same as I said with Apocalypse Now: If I can't come in competition, I kind of don't want to be a gala.' "

Coppola withdrew Tetro altogether, but the Fortnight soon called and he was enticed into presenting it in this more casual program. And he did not have to wear a tux, opting for a billowing green shirt and casual pants. Likewise, the audience was in casual attire, not formal black tie. But they gave him the kind of standing ovation usually reserved for potential Palme d'Or contenders.

Tetro is the fictional story of Italian family members in Argentina. The Godfather is the fictional story of Italian-American family members in the Mafia. Coppola was asked yesterday if he saw any differences between the films.

"The difference between The Godfather and this film is four stabbings, two strangulations, 20 murders by gun, three murders by car explosion and one machine gun murder!"

The capacity crowd in the Palais Stephanie Theatre Croisette burst into prolonged applause.

Coppola, who wrote the screenplay for Tetro and used parts of his own family saga, cautions people not to read too much into it because it is strictly a work of fiction ... maybe.

"Nothing in the story that happens really happened," he said of Tetro. "But everything is true."

Parts of The Godfather were true to his family, too, Coppola explained. "When I made The Godfather I didn't know anything about gangsters. I never met a gangster. But I knew they were Italian-Americans so I just made them my family, in terms of how they ate (and in other daily routines). So I was just true to what I saw with my uncles and my father.

"In this case, my own family were certainly not Argentine-Italians, although those who know Argentina know there are many, many Italians there and they are a good part of the culture. So I thought this would be a good opportunity to transplant parts of my family to Argentina and look at them from that perspective."

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