Megalopolis Overview
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, “Megalopolis” makes its premiere this Friday and represents a dream that has long inhabited the director, dating back to the 1980s. An ambitious project that takes on classic narrativity and offers a unique cinematic experience.
The story is also about Cesar Catalina (Adam Driver), who wants to build a city called Megalopolis on a crocus material he created; he uses this material as an alternative for what currently exists. Mayor Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), on the other hand, is in favor of constructing a casino instead at the same location. His daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel) ends up dating and helping Cesar uncover his secrets, then falls in love with Julio, much to her father’s displeasure.
He makes the story into a modern myth by adding a surrealistic touch that is point blank rewarding. Creating a world where time stops at will, cause and effect happen at once, and magic realism seeps in. In the first scene we see Cesar, our characters communicate with poetic precision, and scenes depict choreographic movements more than erratic film movements. Turning what is already rich in imagination, the story of Megalopolis, when Cesar engages with the media, reciting Hamlet’s famous soliloquy, is Coppola at his best
Characters engage in conversations about societal upheaval and the complex mess of a utopia throughout the movie. Coppola also addresses how media helps build the celebrities of today and how they fall back to earth right after. The film itself contains a visual flair that pops with dreamlike sequences and fancy montages, generating its own unique aesthetic.
To Conclude
“Megalopolis” is far from conventional filmmaking, but that doesn’t stop it from being a form of escapism worth diving into headfirst. It immerses us in thought-provoking themes while painting us an artistic visual that is pure Coppola. A contemporary blockbuster of sorts, it is more than just a beautiful piece of cinematic work; it’s auteur filmmaking at its best.