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With "Megalopolis," the Oscar-winning director of "The
Godfather" is in the running for the Palme d'Or for the first
time since "Apocalypse Now" netted him the top prize in 1979.
Critics were on the whole unimpressed by the film but many found
it had at least a smidgeon of entertainment value.
Entertainment news outlet Vulture summarized the general
reception with the headline "Megalopolis is a work of absolute
madness," while The Hollywood Reporter's quick take described it
as "a folly that's not without a certain fascination."
Adam Driver stars as Cesar Catilina, an architect-scientist who
wants to better a fictional version of New York City called New
Rome, pitting him against Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo
Esposito), who prizes authority and institutions over change.
Catilina falls in love with the mayor's daughter, Julia, played
by "Game of Thrones"' Nathalie Emmanuel, as she helps him work
towards his vision and re-ignites his power to stop time.
Attesting to Coppola's cachet, even the supporting cast is
particularly well-stocked with famous names such as Shia LaBeouf,
Aubrey Plaza, Laurence Fishburne and Dustin Hoffman.
Almost as epic as the film itself is the long, winding road it
took from concept to cinemas: Coppola first began developing the
concept in the early 1980s, working on it in fits and starts in
the succeeding decades with a number of actors attached.
Coppola said his plot inspiration came from an attempted coup
d'etat in 63 B.C. by the popular Roman aristocrat Lucius Sergius
Catiline, who also lends his name to Driver's character.
After almost giving up on the project in 2007 due to a lack of
support, Coppola decided to follow through on it after turning
80, followed by the pandemic, which involved selling a piece of
his wine business to self-finance the film's production.
"Megalopolis," with a $120 million budget, has not yet found a
U.S. distributor but, according to reports, will have a limited
global release at Imax theatres at some point this year.
(Reporting by Miranda Murray; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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