25/48
Coppola abandoned the project entirely in 2007 and only began redeveloping it in 2019
Plot
The city of New Rome faces the duel between Cesar Catilina, a brilliant artist committed to a utopian future, and greedy mayor Franklyn Cicero. Caught between them is Julia Cicero, whose loyalties are divided between her father and her lover. Francis Ford Coppola wrote the screenplay in the early 1980s, but the film was shelved partly due to his financial debts. Pre-production finally began in 2001, after shooting 30 hours of second-unit footage and table readings with Paul Newman, Uma Thurman, Robert De Niro, James Gandolfini, Nicolas Cage, Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Edie Falco and Kevin Spacey. The project was scrapped after the September 11 attacks because a scene from the script (page 166) had “predicted” the attacks.
It is the exact same footage, mirrored and tilted slightly
The security video of Cicero entering Ceasar’s office is said to be from two different cameras, as shown by the small text in the upper left corner. Hamilton Crassus III: What Do You Think About This Stand I Have? The ‘Ultimate IMAX Experience’ In the version of the film, a live actor asks questions during the filmed press conference. Referenced on The John Campea Show: Adam Driver leads Francis Ford Coppola’s new film Megalopolis (2022). My PledgeWritten by Grace VanderWaalPerformed by Grace VanderWaalCourtesy of Columbia RecordsBy arrangement with Sony Music EntertainmentProduced and orchestrated by Kris Kukul.
Envy, jealousy, greed and lust for power are other themes that shape the essence of this work
“Megalopolis” is a film that I wanted to like, primarily because it is an incredibly expensive indie project, written, produced, financed and directed by the legendary Francis Ford Coppola – an auteur who has been planning this work for 40 years and loves it so much that he personally rated it 10/10 on the film platform Letterboxd. In addition, the experience of sitting in an almost empty IMAX theater along with a few others added to the atmosphere… However, apart from Adam Driver’s Oscar-worthy performance and the stunning visual images that looked beautiful on the giant screen, nothing else in this film is worthy of praise. The plot follows the genius scientist Cesar, the inventor of the revolutionary material “Megalon”, with which he plans to build a utopian city of the future – “Megalopolis”. This is one of the central themes of the film – the obsession with perfection in a world and society that is far from it.
Coppola is not afraid to include both political commentary and reflections on human existence
Reflecting on the themes of the film, one might think that it is a good film. On the contrary, all of these themes are destroyed by the narrative chaos, which, in my opinion, is the result of the director’s overbearing ambition to present an unprecedented “megalomaniac” work of art. The editing and narrative are disjointed – the film jumps from scene to scene without coherence, which becomes tiring after just fifteen minutes. By the middle, I had completely lost interest in the story and was simply waiting for it to end. Even though most of the cast is well-known, it is difficult to identify with the characters – most are superficial, and some are completely unnecessary.
The dialogue is mixed – sometimes brilliant, sometimes boring – which makes the experience quite uneven
The only character I could identify with was Cesar, thanks to the brilliant performance of Adam Driver. His ability to convey Cesar’s mania, dialogue and emotion is probably what kept me engaged in the first place, rather than the depth of the character itself. The cinematography is excellent, and if Coppola had focused primarily on this element, this could have been an exceptional film.
