19/45
Coppola fully abandoned the project in 2007, and didn’t begin developing it again until 2019
Tale
The city of New Rome faces the duel between Cesar Catilina, a brilliant artist in favor of a Utopian future, and the greedy mayor Franklyn Cicero. Between them is Julia Cicero, with her loyalty divided between her father and her beloved.. Francis Ford Coppola wrote the script in the early 1980s, but the film was kept on the back-burner partially due to his financial debts. Pre-production finally began in 2001 after filming 30 hours of second unit footage and holding table read with Paul Newman, Uma Thurman, Robert De Niro, James Gandolfini, Nicolas Cage, Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Edie Falco, and Kevin Spacey, but the project was scrapped after the September 11 attacks, because a scene from the script (page 166) "predicted" the attacks.
It is just the same footage flipped and slightly tilted
The security video of Cicero entering Caesars office is supposed to be two different cameras as indicated by the small text in the upper left corner. Hamilton Crassus III: What do you think about this boner I’ve got?. The "Ultimate IMAX Experience" version of the film features a live actor asking questions during the filmed press conference.. Referenced in The John Campea Show: Adam Driver To Lead Francis Ford Coppola's New Film Megalopolis (2022).
For everything that works in Megalopolis, there’s something that doesn’t
My PledgeWritten by Grace VanderWaalPerformed by Grace VanderWaalCourtesy of Columbia RecordsBy arrangement with Sony Music EntertainmentProduced and Orchestrated by Kris Kukul. It’s the huge go for broke swing everyone said it was, and an immensely interesting mess. Parts are very creative and unlike anything else, and then long stretches pass that are utterly boring. It’s 138 minutes long but feels like it exceeds the three-hour mark.
There’s a certain balance here with the entertaining and boring
Whether that makes it feel appropriately epic or too often dull will probably depend on the viewer.It’s also the kind of movie where I’m not sure overanalyzing will help. Coppola is trying to say so much in one film, and a good part of it comes out nonsensical as a result. There were a few points during the film where I wondered if it was all some practical joke. It might mean a lot to him, or maybe only parts do and the rest of the time, he’s laughing at us.Somehow, all at once, I’m disappointed, exhausted, confused, and impressed.
Visuals that look striking alongside parts that are visually elegant
It’s a movie that film buffs will argue about and remember while 99% of the population will continue to live their lives in blissful ignorance of its existence.I can’t quite decide whether it would be better to have be among the blissful many or the baffled 1%. I can offer no advice to anyone else who’s considering giving it 138 minutes of their finite time. I’m glad I saw it and I also feel it was a bit of a waste of time.. Check out our list of exciting new movies from this year’s film festivals, including Venice, TIFF, the New York Film Festival, and more.