Decades in the making, Francis Ford Coppola has finally completed his long gestating epic, ‘Megalopolis’ – but is it mega or meagre?
The Megalopolis in question is one that Nobel prize winning architect and polymath Cesar Catalina (Adam Driver) wants to build in in an ancient Rome alike New York City that he wants to rebuild using his magic new material Megalon, something that nor only he can build with but seemingly has given him the power to stop time too. But it’s Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito) a former DA who prosecuted Cesar previously but was acquitted of the mysterious death of his wife and is vehemently opposed to Cesar’s building plans. The mayor’s intentions are further complicated when his daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel) begins working for Cesar who in turn falls for her. Their love story infuriates Cesar’s cousin Clodio (Shia LaBeouf) who holds a light for her and plots to bring about Cesar’s downfall. And into the mix is thrown Clodio’s father Hamiliton Crassus III (Jon Voight) a multi billionaire who marries Cesar’s mistress Wow Plantunum (Aubrey Plaza) a typically sassy TV reporter.
It’s got all the makings of the plotting of Coppola’s Godfather films but throws in a whole load of other themes, and sub plots that often ago nowhere – a story thread involving a satellite that will crash to earth just peters out, an impending city riot goes the same way as does so much else. Thrown into the mix is the occasional voiceover from Laurence Fishbourne that merely tells us what we’ve just seen, ponderous philosophical quotes emerge, and Shakespeare is plundered notably Hamlet’s ‘To be or nor to be’ speech which Driver delivers. Scenes often go on too long especially a wedding feast that’s something of a throwback to the opening of The Godfather but with none of its dark subterfuge or characterization .
That’s not to say Megalopolis is not without its moments – statues collapse exhausted from being in the decaying city for years and visually it is often stunningly shot. Coppola plays with slo-mo, freeze frame, shots played in reverse and triptych screens. At 85 years of age he still is willing to experiment with form but it is of little benefit to the film
With a director with an envious back catalogue especially his 1970’s era films it easy to see why actors would want to work with him but many play to type. The older more experienced actors are fine enough and Shia LaBeouf as the duplicitous cousin has been at the dressing up box, one moment he’s cross dressing as an eyebrow-less toga toting ingénue. the next he’s a Joshua Tree era Bono wearing eyeliner.
Megalopolis is likely to be the last epic that Coppola will make and having financed it himself to the tune of $120m he’s been able to do what he likes with a film that is as bold as it is bewildering and likely to test the patience of audiences. But Coppola has always been one to champion cinema with wildly differing degrees of success. Apocalypse Now took a while to garner the critical kudos it now rightly has and yet his follow up film, ‘One from the heart’ was a disaster and bankrupted his own Zoetrope studio. Megalopolis is packed with ideas and themes often to its own detriment and whether this will be reappraised as a master piece seems unlikely and though Megalopolis has Francis Ford describing it as a fable it’s more like a folly of a film.
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Here’s the Megalopolis trailer…..
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