How sad it is to lose someone you love. Megalopolis by Francis Ford Coppola was one of the most anticipated films of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. It is an understatement to say that the disappointment is proportional to the hopes that we had based on this project that the director of Godfather had rewritten, according to his words, “300 times in forty years”. Did he put off the work too much? The result is more of an industrial catastrophe than of the ambitious work we were hoping for. We come out very unhappy after seeing a mind-boggling nanar. As if dropped by an old magister whom we admired.
The first shot of the film, shown to the press in IMAX format, is absolutely beautiful. Adam Driver, at the top of the Chrysler Building in New York, is about to throw himself into the void before going back in time to save himself at the last minute. We are briefly won over before falling from even higher heights than the hero. This visionary architect dreams of creating a comfortable futuristic city even if it means sacrificing the current inhabitants by destroying their homes. Is the future worth sacrificing the present? “maybe yes, maybe no,” the film suggests.
So what’s wrong?
Explaining what is successful will be quicker. Francis Ford Coppola remains a great filmmaker capable of visual flashes giving the impression that he suddenly – but briefly – pops his head over the set to give his instructions. The rest of the time, you might think he stayed locked in his trailer cooking pasta. Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Giancarlo Esposito, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Schwarztman, Jon Voigt and Dustin Hoffman – with little or no direction – make tons of it as the grimacest of silent actors. They are often embarrassing.
Our texts on Cannes are here
The film is about an old man. It turns out to be rich in heartbreaking aphorisms that break open doors, in cinematic references that arrive like crazy and in nods to current events as heavy as an assault by combat helicopters without Ride of the Valkyries, no smell of napalm or early morning light. Not forgetting a ridiculous happening on stage in the middle of the projection. Everything is ugly, outrageous and uncomfortable, making you wonder if Francis Ford Coppola is indeed the author of this massacre which stings the eyes and hurts the heart.
We know thatApocalypse Now was poorly received at Cannes before receiving the Palme d’Or in 1979. It seems doubtful that Megalopolis experience such a glorious destiny.