Coppola’s “Megalopolis” at Cannes: a masterpiece or a $100 million flair?

I wouldn’t be too extreme in my review of Coppola’s new film, but if I had to decide which of these films to approach, it would be the latter, unfortunately. In my opinion, he described it very accurately “Big cities” One foreign critic likens it to… Crazy dreamWhich you had last night and you definitely want to tell someone about it in a couple of hours. And you know how it is with dreams. They are governed by a fairly specific logic, they mix different systems, and they do not always make sense. Overall, it is very chaotic and confusing. “Big cities” are for me One big messas I couldn’t find my way at all.

Francis Ford Coppola It paints a vision of a fictional modern America, locating the action in the city of New Rome. There are no references to the old order and how history repeats the pattern of the fall of great empires over the centuries. Corruption, greed, conspiracy, incest, lies and even shooting your opponent with a bow. Coppola lists many mistakes of the people that led to this situation.

It’s all about the competition between two rather charismatic men for power and privilege. One is related to Donald Trump, the other is somewhat reminiscent of Elon Musk. The first, Franklin Cicero, is an incumbent mayor who hates even the slightest disruption of the status quo because it harms his interests and those of his supporters. The second, Cesar Catalina, is a genius who draws bold visions of a utopian future, regardless of the prevailing arrangements in the city. Between them, as usual, there is also a woman (Nathalie Emmanuel). The oldest girl in town, a nightclub regular, suddenly has to make a mature decision in her life. He took the side of feelings – towards Catalina, or blood ties, because she was the mayor’s daughter.

He plays the role of the city manager of Plassey Giancarlo EspositoCatalina’s crazy ideas are in turn “sold”. Adam Driver. There are many famous names here, because in the background there are: Jon Voight (He shoots with a miniature bow!) Dustin Hoffman, Aubrey Plaza, Laurence Fishburne Or in a completely strange role Shia LaBeouf.

However, they should not be surprised, because it is difficult to imagine an actress or actor who would refuse Coppola. Because although he experienced different moments in his long career, he was a true legend of cinema and one of the most important directors in history. Creator of “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now”. You simply do not say no to such people. Even if the “big cities” scenario may cause a lot of confusion. This cannot be ruled out, after all, as Coppola mentioned, he rewrote it nearly three hundred times.

When I watched the American director’s new film, I was initially confused. Sometimes, as is the case with a beginner who wants to include absolutely everything in his first work. However, this was not the first film of the great teacher. Let’s hope it’s not the last, because Francis Ford Coppola certainly deserves a better farewell to cinema From the unfortunately failed “Megalopolis”.

Cuba Armata, Cannes