A press conference took place this Friday, the day after the screening of his major project. The filmmaker seemed completely protected from the mixed and negative feedback on his film.
Francis Ford Coppola and the main actor of “Megalopolis”, Adam Driver, on May 17 in Cannes. Photo Stéphane Cardinale/Corbis via Getty Images
By Laurent Rigoulet
Published on May 17, 2024 at 4:29 p.m.
Updated May 17, 2024 at 5:38 p.m.
Oleft Thursday evening Francis Ford Coppola under the cheers of the Lumière amphitheater, who was inflamed for the sacred monster much more than for his Megalopolis. This one left a good part of the 2,000 spectators dizzy with boredom or confusion. Moved, the 85-year-old filmmaker wanted to present the loved ones who accompanied him, his son Roman, his sister Talia Shire and all of his (courageous) actors: “They have all become members of my family and besides, as the character Cesar says in my film, “we are all one big family”! » During the night, the director ofApocalypse Now was able to see that that of American cinema was one with it.
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From New York to Los Angeles, the special correspondents in Cannes took the opposite view of their European colleagues stunned by Megalopolis. “A fascinating film, proclaim The New York Times. Where crazy visions, high ideals, literary references and historical notations swirl. The great design of a great man whose sincerity is as moving as his artistic audacity. » The critic of New Yorker he felt “surprisingly poignant pleasures” while Deadline see “Coppola paints on an Imax screen like Caravaggio on his canvas”. Variety And The Hollywood Reporter make great efforts and long sentences to mask their disappointment, praising “the message of hope” And “playful spirit” which relieve the film of its “verbiage” and its “heaviness”. The digital pop magazine AV Club she takes a nice step aside: “ Megalopolis gives the impression that the HBO series Rome was rewritten by a thousand monkeys, some of whom even had trouble with the spelling. »
Suffice it to say that the storm is still blowing under people’s heads on Friday noon and that tension is rising in the crowded press conference room where the speaker patiently counts down the expected delays. She falls as soon as the filmmaker appears, as a benevolent patriarch, one of his granddaughters at his side: “When I came here to Apocalypse Now, he said, I carried Sofia on my shoulders. »
I feel that it is artists who have the power to shine a light on the dark times we are going through and light the way.
Francis Ford Coppola at a press conference
He quickly decides on the “slight drunkenness” who seized it during the standing ovation, “mixture of relief and joy”then the (American) questions lead him into the terrain of (American) politics: does he see a politician capable of carrying “the vision of hope in humanity” what does his film exalt? “Ever since I thought about Megalopolis, he replies, My idea is to draw a parallel between Roman civilization and the United States, since we have copied it a lot, even in the architecture of our cities. However, I didn’t expect to film it at a time when America is reenacting the fall of the Roman Empire, when the very idea of the republic is on the verge of collapse. I don’t believe any politician today is capable of guiding us. I feel that it is artists who have the power to shine a light on the dark times we are going through and light the way. »
Coppola talks about the return of fascism, in Europe and America, and tries to start a dialogue with Jon Voight, the former star of Macadam Cowboy, notorious support of Donald Trump. The actor gets away with a pirouette of Christian kindness: “Your film shows us what we must do. As you say, human beings can come together, help each other, and use their experiences to lead the way. » No mention of Trump, no sparkle in a man who is nevertheless inclined to seize the poles handed to him. As when he recently criticized his daughter Angelina Jolie’s support for the Palestinian cause: “She has no idea of God’s honor and truth. » “We do not agree politically, Coppola told him, but I must recognize that you were one of the first to support me in the project of Megalopolis. »
The work was truly that of a troop.
Francis Ford Coppola at a press conference
According to Coppola, all political opinions were represented among his actors. Regarding the film that most of them discovered the evening before, they agree and thank the director. The very verbose Giancarlo Esposito describes having difficulty understanding the work during the filming where Coppola led him and feeling moved to tears at the end of the screening, realizing that he was not required to to have answers to the questions he asked himself. “I think Francis himself doesn’t have a firm answer, he said. That’s the beauty of his work. »
“When we embark on a project like this, says the filmmaker, we don’t know how to do it. The work was truly that of a troop. Adam Driver, for example, gave a lot on set, but he also participated in the editing. » “There was an experimental theater side, said the actor. We were going against the tide. I’ve seen the film dozens of times, and last night I understood new things again. » A unique experience for an actor who refuses to see himself on screen. The questions are friendly, everything goes so well, the bubble is so tight that Coppola asks to be called Francis and plans to be in Cannes in twenty years. He is already writing a new film and ideas are assailing him from all sides. Concerning cinema like wine. Or his children’s careers. “I have so many different desires and plans that, when death comes, I won’t notice it. »
Cannes Film Festival 2024
Reviews of films in competition, meetings with filmmakers, the jury, revelations… Télérama brings you the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, from May 14 to 25.
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