Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis: A Fable feels like a propaganda film but I’m not sure what it is in favor or against. With over two hours to spin his fable, Coppola seemingly spins his wheels and says absolutely nothing of value.
The film is set in New Rome, a stand-in for New York City with a smattering of togas and debauchery that would make Nero blush. Adam Driver plays Cesar Catilina, an architect who just wants to create Megalopolis, the biggest achievement of his career that will make everyone happy and, maybe, save the world. It’s not hard to see Catilina as a self-inserted version of Coppola who has been attempting to make this over-bloated epic for the past 40 years. The man standing in Catilina’s way is the unpopular mayor of New York (Giancarlo Esposito).
While this seems like a simple enough set-up, it is mired in meaningless political allegory and fantastical CGI sequences that are more confusing than enlightening. Catilina somehow has the ability to stop time. In most stories this would have some effect on the story, but here it seems to only exist as a metaphor for how painters freeze time in their paintings, something that all artists aspire to do. And Catilina’s love interest Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel) spells this metaphor out in dialogue so that no one in the audience can miss it. She does so while walking on a floating clock above the city where Catilina ponders his creation.
Characters come and go and scenes have no relation to each other. Aubrey Plaza is a “shocking” journalist named Wow Platinum who is more than willing to sleep her way to the top. Shia LeBeouf is Catilina’s cousin and self-decided arch-nemesis, but Catilina doesn’t seem to notice. Many characters are related to each other in sometimes confusing ways, perhaps meant to mirror how much of Coppola’s own extended family appears in this film.
Parts of the film are segmented or punctuated by a quote of some kind, generally read by Laurence Fishburne who also plays the chauffeur of Catilina. His strong and steady voice gives the illusion that these quotes mean something. And while Coppola may have had a meaning behind the political movements in the film (a Confederate flag and the phrase “Make Rome Great Again” appear), it is unclear if they are actually meant to represent those real-life beliefs.
In the film, Megalopolis is meant to be some kind of utopia, a place where everyone can get along and live in peace. But the film Megalopolis is one of the most divisive viewing experiences ever committed to film. I wonder what kind of soliloquy Cesar Catilina would spout about that strange irony.
In Theaters September 27
Megalopolis: A Fable, 138 mins, Dir: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel
★☆☆☆☆