100th FILM SPECIAL: MEGALOPOLIS!
Genius artist Cesar Catilina seeks to leap the City of New Rome into a utopian, idealistic future, while his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero, remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero, the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.1
The day’s finally here. One hundred films in a row.
It’s quite a milestone. I’m proud of my slavish devotion to a silly idea and I look forward to the rest of the journey. Thank you to everyone who has read my blog and newsletter. You mean the world to me. I hope I’ve informed, educated or entertained you during these past few months.
Speaking of slavish devotion to silly ideas, the honour of my one-hundredth film in a row fell to Francis Ford Coppola’s polarising Megalopolis.
There are many moments of surface-level hilarity in Megalopolis. Broad, hammy performances. Mind-boggling editing decisions. Dialogue that paints itself purple, dances naked atop a harpsichord and sings “Subtext is here again!”. For me the funniest parts (apart from Dustin Hoffman’s death scene) are the walkabout narrative threads that dangle in the air before being yanked away without second thought. Or maybe it’s all the characters that wander in and out of scenes with an unsettling display of free-will.
No, it’s Dustin Hoffman’s death scene.
It’s impressive to see a director of Coppola’s generation choose this stylistic path: a maximalist, artificial and confrontational epic. Ben-Hur by Baz Luhrmann. Especially considering he spent over a hundred million dollars of his own money to do so. And especially considering this is the second time he’s done it.
How can you not respect such single-minded passion and drive? Such unashamed auteurism and unbridled artistic willpower? Regardless of the result, Coppola achieving his decades long dream of making this film warms my heart.
But that’s not the only thing; the film’s message is one of optimism and hope for humanity. Buried beneath the baffling CGI tangle of his golden New Rome playground, Coppola attempts to tell the story of a society in peril and the visionary attitude that may be its salvation. The degree to which it works for you will depend. If you can separate Adam Driver’s suave, sexy uber-genius Cesar from Coppola himself then you might appreciate it.
Despite it’s many, many flaws Megalopolis charmed me. It’s earnest grandeur and childlike sense of ambition resonated with me. I’d compare it, for someone of my age, to the Star Wars prequels: a poor film that is too joyous and eager for its own good.
If you love it, you’ve got no brains. If you hate it, you’ve got no heart.
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https://letterboxd.com/film/megalopolis-2024/↩