MEGALOPOLIS – A Review by Cynthia Flores
This film was produced, written, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The iconic filmmaker who brought us everything from Apocalypse Now to The Godfather films. At this stage of the game, with nothing to prove. He sold off a portion of his wine business to completely fund this film himself. His film as a fable shows America as a modern Rome. Whereas Rome fell due to its vice’s, Mr. Coppola sends out this message of hope for our country that stands at the crossroads.
That’s pretty heavy stuff to contemplate. By choosing to use a fable as the vehicle of his storytelling he tends to use a heavy hand to beat that drum of truth.
Megapolis tells the story of the city of New Rome (which looks a lot like New York City) and shows the conflict between Caesar Catalina (Adam Driver) and the greedy mayor Franklin Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito). While Mayor Cicero likes the way things are and has grown quite wealthy because of it, Caesar dreams of a utopian future for all. He’s a brilliant, rich inventor and thinks he has the key to building the city of the future for everyone.
Embroiled in this struggle between the two men is Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel) the beautiful, brilliant, and self-destructive Mayor’s daughter. She first becomes involved with Caesar to get revenge for all the trouble he’s caused her father. However, the more she hangs out with him the more she gets to see the brilliant thinker that he is. And the attraction begins.
Caesar’s ex-lover Wow Platinum (Aubrey Plaza) takes a chance to seduce and marry for the love of money and power. Though she becomes the much younger wife of Hamilton Crassus III (Jon Voight), her black heart belongs only to Cesar. Hamilton has one son Clodio Pulcher (Shia LaBeouf) and two self-obsessed daughters, Clodia (Chloe Fineman) and Claudine (Isabelle Kusman). All are rumored to be sleeping with each other. They epitomize the vulgarity of the times. Clodio goes out of his way to make trouble for his cousin Caesar whom he hates with a passion.
As this fable goes along, there are betrayals, scandals, and victories all laid before the audience in a flashy and loud way. Some of the calmest bits are from Fundi Romaine (Lawrence Fishburne). He is Caesar’s bodyguard, chauffeur, and only true friend. It is Fundi’s voice that narrates most of the film.
Megalopolis as a film has moments of brilliance but unfortunately, chunks of clunkiness in between those moments. Also, it seemed like the filmmaker was doing an homage to some of the best films that have ever been made.
I saw references to the black and white 1987 Wim Wenders classic Wings of Desire when Caesar is looking out over the city standing on a clock or outside his office window. Also, the whole setup in the film is when trapeze artists are performing. The way it was staged also reminded me of a pivotal moment from that black-and-white classic.
In Megalopolis, whether they’re quoting Shakespeare or the great thinker Marcus Aurelius, the way they delivered their lines was very stylized at times. It reminded me of the 1940s syncopated-style delivery of dialogue. Specifically, the performances from the Noir 1945 classic film by Billy Wilder called The Lost Weekend in which actor Ray Milland loses his mind to drink. There are pivotal moments when Caesar is dealing with his demons that mimic much of what Ray Milland did in the older film.
I’m not sure if it was just Coppola’s way of paying homage to all the films that came before his or if it was just an unconscious choice on his part. Either way, the chosen stylized way of delivering the dialogue in a majority of this film may be difficult for some filmgoers to appreciate upon first viewing.
Why do I say first viewing? Because there’s so much packed in the film and in the production value that it is worth seeing again and probably will be studied in film school. All of it was wrapped in the beautiful score by Osvaldo Golijov.
I know the reviews are mixed for Megalopolis. People either love or hate this film. I respect that it took Coppola forty years and 120 million dollars of his own money to make this passion project. I enjoyed the all-star cast. I am a proud, self-professed, movie nerd who has seen thousands of films from all sorts of genres. For that reason, I can appreciate what he has done here. I did like the film despite the unevenness of it. Will it win any awards? Probably not. But is it a good enough film worth seeing in the theaters on IMAX? Most definitely yes.
I give Megalopolis 3.5-stars. It’s a big, flashy, bold fable and if you’re a film nerd, a must-see on the big screen. If you aren’t, it might not be for you.
Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
Written by: Francis Ford Coppola
Rated: R
Selig Rating: 3.5 Stars
Running Time: 2 hr 18 min
Epic / Sci-Fi / Drama
Wide Release: In Theaters September 27th
Starring: Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburn
The Selig Rating Scale:
5 Stars – Excellent movie/show, well worth the time and price.
4 Stars – Good movie/show
3 Stars – OK movie/show
2 Stars – Well, there was nothing else…
1 Star – Total waste of time.
