By Alicia García de Francisco
Cannes, France, May 16 (EFE).- Moderate applause and boos on Thursday followed the first press screening of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis”, an excessive film in every sense, seemingly disliked by the majority but that still pleased the veteran’s staunchest defenders.
It is a futuristic story in which New York has become New Rome and in which there is an open struggle between Mayor Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito) and a visionary businessman named Caesar Catilina (Adam Driver), over how the city should be rebuilt.
In his search for similarities with ancient Rome, in this story of betrayals, power and lovers, Coppola used well-known names of Roman characters – Crassus, Julia, Vesta – which further contributes to the confusion.
With grandiose sets, extravagant Roman costumes and a breadth of talent, “Megalopolis” could well become a cult film in the future, although for the moment it points more to a financial disaster for Coppola like the one he experienced with “One from the Heart” in 1981.
The almost two-and-a-half hours of footage showed flashes of Coppola’s genius, but not enough to maintain interest in a story with many ups and downs and that only gains strength in the final stretch.
“Megalopolis” was, by far, the most anticipated film of the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Being by Coppola would have been enough to raise expectations, despite the fact that for more than two decades his work has not been up to par with previous films.
In addition, given the impossibility of finding a producer, the director personally paid the $120 million budget, selling part of his wine empire, according to American media. And, as if that were not enough, after finishing it and before arriving at Cannes, he had not even found a distributor in the United States.
Expectations were certainly met and Coppola’s film was the topic of conversation of the day at Cannes, where the first packed press screenings ended with similar results of divided opinions and a cold reception.
It was not the same at the Grand Théâtre Lumière, which hosted the gala presentation of the film, with Coppola and most of the film’s cast, including Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight and Giancarlo Esposito.
At the entrance, accompanied by his granddaughter Romy Mars, daughter of Sofía Coppola, “The Godfather” director was received with the auditorium on its feet.
On Friday, Coppola and his cast will hold a press conference that is expected to be tumultuous. EFE
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