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I say review, but I’m not sure if review is the right word. I saw Megalopolis yesterday and, when it finished, I sat there for a good few minutes trying to process what I had just seen. Even sleeping on it and waking up now, I’m still not sure.
Megalopolis stars Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shite, Jason Schwartzman, and Dustin Hoffman. Francis Ford Coppola writes and directs.
The Story
This is going to be a tough one for me to break down. The official story is:
The city of New Rome hosts the conflict between Cesar Catilina, a brilliant artist in favor of a utopian future, and the greedy mayor Franklyn Cicero. Between them is Julia Cicero, her loyalty divided between her father and her beloved.
Cesar (Driver) has created “a revolutionary new bio-adaptive building material” which he wants to use to build Megalopolis, a futuristic utopia of his own design. The mayor of the present city, Cicero (Esposito) starts a smear campaign to stop him.
The rest of the movie is about the political maneuvering of the two of them. Cicero’s daughter, Julia (Emmanuel), falls for Cesar, where loyalties are tested.
Cesar also has the ability to stop time. I know that sounds random, but it is. There’s no explanation and it probably has a deeper meaning, but everything in this movie is a deeper meaning.
The Feel Of The Movie
I’m still here trying to figure out what I watched. The style of the movie is like a Roman political drama, but the visuals are more like Sin City in places. It’s a political drama, but set against a backdrop of a city that looks like it was built on Mars.
Some of the visuals are amazing and it looks really beautiful. In other places, as I said, it is more like Sin City and very obviously green screen. I wonder if this was because of budget constraints?
There are speeches from Shakespeare, quotes from great thinkers of the past and all are delivered really well by the cast. I’ll be honest, some of it (actually, a lot of it) went over my head. I’m not a great thinker who delves into the works of Greek and Roman philosophers.
The Writing
Megalopolis is deep, very deep, way deeper than I have ever been. I love the work of David Lynch and Stanley Kubrick, they make movies with more layers than an onion, but I still like to think I understand them. I have my own views on Eraserhead and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Do I fully understand them, no, but they are movies I ‘get’ and return to.
The problem with Megalopolis is that I just didn’t ‘get’ it. I understand about political rivalry and plotting, but it’s all too deep. I think I understand some of it, but there’s so much I don’t.
How can Cesar pause time? What was the bio-adaptive material he discovered? Why did LeBeouf shave his eyebrows? Honestly, there are a lot more questions about this movie than I can handle. If I were to fully break down the movie, I would be here all day.
Looking back at Ford Coppola’s previous movies say, I don’t know, The Godfather. It’s an amazing movie because all the ingredients were there. Amazing actors, brilliant direction, beautiful music and, most importantly, a gripping story.
I think the theme of the story of Megalopolis is fighting political power with what seems to be a benevolent dictator, maybe? That’s probably wrong, maybe it’s more about if you escape the current government you can make utopia? Maybe it’s all about someone rising out of the cesspool that is Hollywood?
If Coppola had had someone else working on the writing, maybe this would have been a different movie. Sometimes scripts need a write, then a re-write, then someone else to look over it, then another re-write. I don’t know. Maybe Coppola did this, but if he did, it doesn’t show.
I’m Not A Smart Man
I’m sure there is someone out there, reading this, thinking I’m a complete moron for not understanding. There will be people that see this as a work of genius and, people like me, who are just confused by it.
Megalopolis has several layers to unpack and understand. I could use an explanation video or three to help me get there. There are times when you watch a movie like this and you get it. Returning to it later, you understand it more and like it more.
Other times, you just don’t get it and, no matter how many times you might watch it, you still just don’t get it. I think Megalopolis might be in the second camp for me. I will give it another try, when it’s on streaming, but I just don’t think I get it.
Overall
I really wanted to like this movie. We all know Ford Coppola made it outside of the ‘system’ and we all wanted for it to be a success, but I just don’t think it’s a good movie. As I have said, I’m hoping I do understand it more, but I just don’t think it’s going to happen.
The direction is good, the music is beautiful, and the cast gives their all. In fact, some of the performances are the best I have seen in a while. Driver, as Cesar, is really good but I just don’t know to what end.
I’m really torn. I wanted this to be a great movie. Is it worth a watch? Yes, it’s very different from anything else you’ll see this year.
I don’t know what to score Megalopolis, so I’m not going to give it a star rating at all. When it’s on streaming, I’ll watch it again and then do another review, one where we can all talk about it afterwards.
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