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At long last, after decades of development, Francis Ford CoppolasMegalopolisis meeting its public.
But who, or what, constitutes its public?
Critics have been mixed on the $120 million epic since its Cannes premiere.
Maybemixedisnt strong enough a term.
Sometimes, theyrewildly divided within the same review.
Thats pretty close to how I felt when I sawMegalopolisat Cannes in May.
The movie has genuine passages of great beauty but often falters at basic storytelling.
Of course, critics will not agree on what that memo evenwas.
Is Aubrey Plazas self-consciously vampy, campy performance a sly part of the films nutty design?
Or is it just misguided overacting?
Does Jon Voight know hes there?
That might explain the weirdly confrontational way thatMegalopolishas been rolled out.
Never mind that this was not an accurate reading of history or the present.
Because critics, for all their mixed responses, have been kinder toMegalopolisthan average audiences likely will be.
I count myself among those critics.
I was never bored byMegalopolis.
For all its many flaws, its too crazy and alive to ignore, or dismiss, or forget.
(Admittedly, I might have to act fast.
)Megalopoliswill never be a normal movie, but it plays infinitely better on repeat viewing.
And in this case, it helps to have some familiarity with its creators life and career.
I grew up in a family that moved every six months, Coppola said to mein an interviewyears ago.
I went to 22 schools before I got into college.
I was always the lonely new kid.
And that kind of impression when youre really young you never can quite shake.
Theres got to be some aspect of that in me.
As a director and mini-mogul, Coppola was always trying to create collectives, cooperatives, partnerships.
He surrounded himself with other filmmakers, and in some cases helped fund their passion projects.
Still, there was something aloof and solitary about him, too.
This has always been the paradox of his career.
He longs for connection, but he also lives inside his own head.
That paradox is also at the heart ofMegalopolis.
Is this society the only one thats available to us?
Adam Drivers Cesar Catilina asks during a press conference about halfway through the film.
And when we ask these questions, when theres a dialogue about them, that basically is a utopia.
These lines are all over the trailers, too; theyre clearly important to Coppola.
(The audio, alas, is prerecorded.)
Coppola had reportedly hoped early on that this could be a full audience-participation moment.
Heasked Amazon to developvoice-recognition software that would allow viewers to interrogate Cesar.
And when youre done, the film you have is the answer.
Theres some general language about the now and the forever, but little actual specificity.
In that sense, maybe Coppola has in fact achieved his dream.
The audience-participation element ofMegalopolisisnt some poor zhlub standing in the dark with a dead microphone.
