Hyper premiere Megalopolis
On the occasion of the release of Megalopolis, the philosophical swan song of director Francis Ford Coppola, on December 5, Lumière has asked writer/philosopher Govert Derix to reflect on the film. He will do so in several Megaloposts in the weeks leading up to the release. Prior to the evening screening on December 5, Derix (in Dutch) will reflect on the film and his Megaloposts.
Megalopolis
Passion project from Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather) starring Adam Driver as a visionary architect who wants to rebuild a metropolis – a mix of New York and ancient Rome – but is opposed by the mayor.
$120 million. That was what MEGALOPOLIS reportedly cost. A film that Coppola had already been wanting to make for more than four decades, and which – because the big Hollywood studios didn’t like it – he financed by selling his own wine empire. And let the film be an ode to people like Coppola: to dreamers, to risk-takers, to ambitious idealists for whom no mountain is too high.
In MEGALOPOLIS, Coppola moves ancient Rome to contemporary New York. Can we compare the current point in American history to the fall of the Roman Empire, is the question Coppola asks. The film’s protagonists have names like Cesar Catalina and Frank Cicero. The former is an idealistic architect who has invented the extraordinary material Megalon and wants to use it to build a utopian city where people can be truly happy. However, he has a powerful opponent in the form of Mayor Cicero, who wants to maintain the status quo.
MEGALOPOLIS premiered at the Cannes film festival – the place where Coppola once made film history with APOCALYPSE NOW. The film failed to win any awards and was dismissed by some critics as messy and pretentious. Yet most reviews showed respect for the courage of Coppola, a film legend who, at the age of 85, still dares to experiment and dream. (mv)