Francis Ford Coppola’s $120 million film debuts at Cannes. It’s hard to look away from the epic.

Megalopolisthe latest magnum opus from acclaimed director Francis Ford Coppola, debuted at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16, and the response was chaotic, to say the least.

While some critics call the dystopian “fable” of a Roman-style power struggle in New York (er, New Rome) “overstuffed,” “juicy and bizarre,” and “a work of absolute madness.” , others concede that “even if it was never made”, “we should be so grateful that it exists”.

Self-financed by Coppola, 85, to the tune of $120 million, based on a scenario that the Godfather According to the director, it took decades to come to fruition, with the 2-hour, 13-minute film receiving a seven-minute standing ovation from the Cannes audience. Still, it’s had its share of detractors and has yet to find a U.S. distributor, leaving a domestic release date up in the air – for now.

What is this Megalopolis about?

Megalopolis stars Adam Driver as Cesar Catilina, a visionary architect who wants to build a utopian sci-fi version of New York on the brink of collapse, much like the Roman Empire.

However, Catilina faces resistance from corrupt Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), who is less concerned with creating a sustainable future and instead wants to open up paradise with a parking lot – or, in this case, a casino. The mayor’s daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel) complicates matters by falling in love with Catiline and struggling with her own alliances.

The cast is rounded out by Shia LaBeouf as Clodio, Catilina’s scheming cousin, Aubrey Plaza as the reporter in search of Sugar-Daddy Wow Platinum, and Jon Voight as said Sugar Daddy.

If this sounds like a Roman conspiracy saga, that’s because it’s based on a historical event.

How long has Coppola been trying to make this film?

Coppola said he had the idea to Megalopolis as early as the 1980s, shortly after he finished filming his infamous Marlon Brando vehicle Apocalypse now. Coincidentally, this film, which had its own controversies and accusations of excess, also premiered at Cannes, winning the Palme d’Or in 1979.

Reports of actor resignations, as well as script rewrites and production delays, also persisted. Megalopolis in the dark for years. However, the footage filmed in 2001 was saved and even included in the final version. To finance this multi-million dollar production, Coppola even sold part of his winery to cover costs.

“Money doesn’t matter,” Coppola said at a press conference in Cannes on May 17.

On-set controversies

Coppola was accused of behaving inappropriately towards female extras while filming a nightclub sequence, according to a May 14 Guardian article.

“For example, he would have pushed women to sit on his knees. And during a nightclub bacchanal scene filmed for the film, according to witnesses, Coppola arrived on set and tried to kiss some of the topless and scantily clad female extras,” the Guardian reported.

One of the film’s executive producers, Darren Demeter, claimed he was unaware of any complaints of harassment on set and released a statement defending Coppola.

“Francis walked around the set establishing the spirit of the scene by giving gentle hugs and kisses on the cheek to the cast and background players. It was his way of helping to inspire and establish the atmosphere of the club,” the statement read in part. “I was never aware of any complaints of harassment or bad behavior during the project.”

Other complaints, according to the Guardian, include Coppola sitting in his trailer “for hours” instead of planning or filming, and forcing Adam Driver to sit in a chair for hours to employ a filming technique “at the old way” rather than using digital tools that “could have been done in 10 minutes”.

A crew member told the Guardian that working on the film “was like watching a train wreck unfold day after day, week after week, and knowing that everyone there had done their best to help avoid a train crash.

What did the cast say?

Calling his first impression of Coppola’s script a “beautiful nightmare,” Plaza told Deadline that the director had “such a magical way of directing and inspiring actors.”

Saying that he ran the production “like a theater camp,” Plaza added that Coppola seems to assemble “a group of interesting, wild actors, and then he tries to get them to act.”

Acknowledging the political nature of his film, as well as its resonances with the current political climate in the United States, Coppola said at a press conference after the film’s premiere: “What is happening in America, in our republic, in our democracy is exactly what is happening in Rome. lost their republic thousands of years ago.

“Our politics have brought us to the point where we are in danger of losing a republic. So it’s not people becoming politicians who are going to be the answer, it’s American artists.”

Coppola then brought Voight, who supported former President Donald Trump, into the conversation, adding, “One of the things I could say about our wonderful cast is that they reflect all kinds of political ideas.”

Voight responded philosophically rather than politically.

“Where are we going? I think we’re all asking ourselves that question right now. Where are we going and what can we do? he said. “Every second of the day I wonder what we can do to make this world a better place.”

When Megalopolis be at the cinema?

If the film remains in competition at Cannes, it has not yet found a distributor in the United States.

At an industry screening of the film in March, potential distributors reportedly gave a “low-key” response and declined to make offers at the time, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Coppola could still find a distributor during the festival or beyond. After all, the last shot of the Megalopolis The trailer features an on-screen title that reads: “Only in theaters 2024.”