I'll just note that Caesar, Catiline, Clodio and Crassus were not nice people in their time just before the Roman Civil War. (And where is Pompey in the movie anyway?) And say what you like about Cicero (and why change his daughter's name from Tulia?) he wasn't the one who brought chaos and war to the late stage Roman Republic.
I haven't seen the movie and the names may just be names, but these are not the people I would valorize. In the end, they were chaos monkeys.
The thing that struck me is that it was both a justification for and indictment of the studio system. The film desperately needed an adult in the room to collaborate with Coppola and try to hone all of his ideas and his visuals into a cohesive and consistent whole. It’s like he knew this was his last film and he didn’t want to leave anything left unsaid. The disparate mess takes away from individual moments of brilliance in acting, ideas, and visuals. The film vacillates wildly between themes and visuals… I wish he would have settled on a unified approach. One could imagine the best version being the Terry Gilliam-esque satire that Voight, Plaza, and LaBeouf embody. For all the talk of Coppola indulging in weed during the production, it feels more like he was on cocaine.
Last thought, Nathalie Emmanuel was the worst part in whatever version of this movie this could have or should have been.
“Incoherently idealistic” and a “straightforwardly fascist tale about the need of a brilliant leader to guide the dull masses and the corrupt elite out of the muck in which they wallow and into a brighter future, democracy be damned.” Very good reasons to ignore this film.
But so many brilliant actors going “bonkers” at “110% of the required wattage” …I kinda have to watch this movie now.
(Also as an admittedly generic and poorly aimed protest vote against the big studios’ assumption that only the lowest common denominators are worth pursuing)
I suspect Megapolis will be much like Babylon a few years ago: a somewhat ponderous, at times vacuous film that will find its audience with time and with it a new appreciation for it completely missing at the time of its premiere
I really hope in like 10 years it gets some retrospectives. It really is just a gorgeous mess of a movie, but it's a mess like you said with soul. And absolutely incredible sound and set design. I think if it had had a strong editor instead of being one of those immediate-post pandemic longer movies it'd have been much more well received
Give Coppola enough time, and he'll probably recut the movie himself. Megalopolis Redux. But not for the masses. Start drinking now, Mr. Bunch, and he can start raising more cash.
I read that it was long in gestation. Like, decades long. Like Cimino’s “Heaven’s Gate”. That bomb. Milk kept too long in a refrigerator curdles. Sours. As do cinema ideas. It looks curdled.
I'll just note that Caesar, Catiline, Clodio and Crassus were not nice people in their time just before the Roman Civil War. (And where is Pompey in the movie anyway?) And say what you like about Cicero (and why change his daughter's name from Tulia?) he wasn't the one who brought chaos and war to the late stage Roman Republic.
I haven't seen the movie and the names may just be names, but these are not the people I would valorize. In the end, they were chaos monkeys.
The thing that struck me is that it was both a justification for and indictment of the studio system. The film desperately needed an adult in the room to collaborate with Coppola and try to hone all of his ideas and his visuals into a cohesive and consistent whole. It’s like he knew this was his last film and he didn’t want to leave anything left unsaid. The disparate mess takes away from individual moments of brilliance in acting, ideas, and visuals. The film vacillates wildly between themes and visuals… I wish he would have settled on a unified approach. One could imagine the best version being the Terry Gilliam-esque satire that Voight, Plaza, and LaBeouf embody. For all the talk of Coppola indulging in weed during the production, it feels more like he was on cocaine.
Last thought, Nathalie Emmanuel was the worst part in whatever version of this movie this could have or should have been.
You reviewed a movie I had no interest in seeing. And now…. I have to see it.
Notes from Pauline Kael,
Alison
“Incoherently idealistic” and a “straightforwardly fascist tale about the need of a brilliant leader to guide the dull masses and the corrupt elite out of the muck in which they wallow and into a brighter future, democracy be damned.” Very good reasons to ignore this film.
But so many brilliant actors going “bonkers” at “110% of the required wattage” …I kinda have to watch this movie now.
(Also as an admittedly generic and poorly aimed protest vote against the big studios’ assumption that only the lowest common denominators are worth pursuing)
I suspect Megapolis will be much like Babylon a few years ago: a somewhat ponderous, at times vacuous film that will find its audience with time and with it a new appreciation for it completely missing at the time of its premiere
Yeah I think BABYLON is a mess but it’s a mess with soul and style and those generate cults.
I really hope in like 10 years it gets some retrospectives. It really is just a gorgeous mess of a movie, but it's a mess like you said with soul. And absolutely incredible sound and set design. I think if it had had a strong editor instead of being one of those immediate-post pandemic longer movies it'd have been much more well received
I lol-ed at your closing line. Chef's kiss!
Sonny, I learn so much from your reviews.
Could this film reach audiences through editing for the masses along with a narration?
It has narration! I don’t think it helps.
Give Coppola enough time, and he'll probably recut the movie himself. Megalopolis Redux. But not for the masses. Start drinking now, Mr. Bunch, and he can start raising more cash.
I read that it was long in gestation. Like, decades long. Like Cimino’s “Heaven’s Gate”. That bomb. Milk kept too long in a refrigerator curdles. Sours. As do cinema ideas. It looks curdled.