I’ve never been inspired to write a critique of a film before but this film is so fucking bonkers I had to do it. I left the theater thinking, “What did i just see?” It was part magic, part train wreck, part being immersed in a Salvador Dali painting.
There are some sequences so beautiful and amazing I’ll never forget them and there are some scenes so cringey I want to forget as quickly as possible that an artist who can create those roman statues falling can also not see how shitty a scene is written or how terrible an actor is miscast.
But this movie is a fever dream. Do not expect to walk into a 3 act structure movie where reverse shots make sense or small ideas ravage the screen. This is a giant of a film. It’s a beautiful mess that I couldn’t help but be completely intrigued with, train wrecks and all.
I’m a filmmaker and so anything that is offereing me something “new” I’m going to be in love with. We don’t get “new” anymore. We don’t get risks in American filmmaking. Beau is Afraid is probably the most risk taking movie we’ve had in years - and Megalopolis is 100 times riskier than Beau is Afraid.
As an artist, it’s so amazing to watch a film like Megalopolis. It pushes you to stay on track wtih all of your insane ideas. To not let them go. I do believe that in 30 years people will look at Megalopolis and see it’s value but there’s no way that can happen now. There are scenes where the rhythm (sound and visual) are more like a game my 9 year old nephew would play. You can’t control it. It’s here and there and as an audience member you’re just trying to keep up with the barest thread of a plot. The story is flying over your head. There’s way too much nuance going on to catch it on the first viewing.
To watch this film, just like viewing a Dali painting, and say, “I saw it.” Is preposterous. It demands so much more of your attention but then of course, you have to want to give it that attention. And herein lies the problem.
I think the biggest issue in the film is the love interest, Adam Driver’s eventual wife. She’s the heart beat of the movie. She’s the character the audience is supposed to fall in love with and care about. Through her character we are supposed to get on board with Caesar’s visions. And she’s so terribly miscast that you don’t give a shit about her and that’s a HUGE problem. An audience has to care about at least one character to stay invested in a story.
It’s such a shame because what Coppola is presenting is a wonder but there’s no one for an audience to get behind. I do believe her “heartbeat” storyline was in the script but Coppola just didn’t pull it out of the actor. So this means for anyone who doesn’t want to watch the movie for art sake, won’t enjoy this movie. They will walk out of the theater. They’ll be bored, more than that, they will hate the film. They will be angry. As we have seen with so many reviews about the film.
That was part of the train wreck for me and why I couldn’t look away. It’s so hard for me to imagine that a director who could generate those ideas and those visuals and misc en scene, could also not realize he didn’t have at least one character for the audience to get behind! I was fucking horrified sitting in the theater whenever her scenes would come up. She was so misdirected. I will say that I think that actress sucks so hard. Her acting is terrible and I don’t know why he chose her. What did he see? I just don’t know. How could Coppola had made such a beginner mistake?
So is this movie perfect? Is it Apocalypse Now? Is it 2001? I do think it will be studied as much as those films in film theory classes. The ideas Coppola is putting forth are worth studying and if it’s not already up on Shot Deck it will be soon because the cinematography and how he uses vfx is so fucking cool. There are so many amazing images and then how the actors are blocked within them, and then how the sound design is integrated - its just astounding. But will it be adored as much as Apocalypse Now or Dracula? No. There is very little heart to the film which is why 99% of people watch movies. But I will definitely be studying that film and stealing from it for the rest of my life. It’s fucking bonkers and I’m onboard with living in a Dali painting. I’ve never seen anything like it before and I can’t imagine I will for another 30 years.