Francis Ford Coppola Returns with ‘Megalopolis’: ‘America May Lose Its Democracy!’

He is one of the last giants of American cinema. Francis Ford Coppola, the author of classics such as The Godfather, Apocalypse Now or even Secret Conversationis back this Wednesday with Megalopolishis first film in thirteen years. A parable of contemporary America, this ambitious futuristic fresco depicts the power struggle between César Caitlina (Adam Driver), an idealistic architect, and Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), a mayor sold to a wealthy mafia family. At its world premiere last May in Cannes, this opus divided festival-goers, baffled by its visual frenzy and improbable mix of genres. Its author, who financed it with his own money, is well aware of this. And it is with an astonishing mixture of wisdom and enthusiasm that this 85-year-old living legend came to defend it in Paris a few days ago…

In what frame of mind are you approaching the release of Megalopolis ?

I’m excited because it’s a big moment! We made this film all together with my collaborators. It’s an unusual film, I know. But I hope people will go see it with an open mind.

Movies take time, energy and money. You know something about that. Why did you want to make this one now?

I didn’t know what kind of movies I would make when I got old. If you take my famous movies from my early days, The Godfather and its sequel, Apocalypse Now, Secret Conversation or Favorite which was a terrible failure, they were all in different styles. Classical, wild, theatrical… I was curious to know what MY style was. A bit like Yasujirō Ozu. He had made popular comedies and as he got older, he made these family dramas that became masterpieces like Trip to Tokyo and so many others. After The Idealist According to John Grisham (in 1997 – Editor’s note), I decided that I was going to experiment too to discover who I was, what I was good at… and if I had a style!

We are not told that we are geniuses… because it is hard to control geniuses!

Francis Ford Coppola

And that’s where you got the idea of Megalopolis ?

I went back to my notebooks and was intrigued by the idea of ​​making a Roman epic. It’s a genre that has always existed since the silent era. Since then, there’s been at least one every ten years like Spartacus by Stanley Kubrick. I thought it was cool. And then as I thought about it, I realized that America was created in the same way as Rome. Even though we don’t have kings, there are references to Roman laws in our laws, we have a Senate… That’s when I started to imagine this story. And of course people told me I was crazy, why would I do something like that? Except that my films, sometimes, are premonitory. We understand them better ten years later. And there, look. America right now is Rome! We are about to have an election that could make it lose its democracy. And end up with a dictator, or why not a king, who knows!

You mention the election. Trump says that if Harris is elected, America will plunge into chaos. And vice versa. Do you think she is really in danger?

I don’t think so. I honestly believe that we human beings are one big family. And that we are a family of geniuses. Except that we are not told that we are geniuses… because it is hard to control geniuses! (smile). They want to keep us unhappy and frustrated so that we can continue to maintain the system. When you turn on the radio, you never hear anyone tell you that human beings are miracles of creativity. But it’s true, we are! And that’s why our children are precious. Yet we lose thousands of them every week in Sudan, in Africa, in Palestine. While our children are potential Archimedes, Einsteins, Rembrandts, Mozarts or Beethovens! We need them! And I wonder about the way our world works…

That’s to say ?

We spend billions of euros every year on advertising. To sell what? A little bit of happiness by buying this thing and that thing. And to sell, we have to keep people unhappy. While we don’t need all that to flourish. People suffer from mental illness? But that’s normal when you’re told all day long that you’re nobody unless you own a Mercedes! That’s why I say that we have to trust human beings and take care of our children. Because there is no problem that we are not capable of solving with our creativity. We can save our planet and we can leave a better world to our children. That’s what I’m trying to say at the end of Megalopolis.

• Read also

  VIDEO – Francis Ford Coppola’s moving red carpet walk with the “Megalopolis” cast

Have you always been so wise? What kind of man were you when you were younger?

You know, I was paralyzed by polio when I was a kid. And what I wanted more than anything was to make friends. But kids my age didn’t want to because they were afraid of catching my disease. All my life, I wanted to be part of a group. But I was always an outsider. That’s why I first turned to theater, because you work in groups. You rehearse and then you go eat pizza together! I brought that theater mentality to cinema. My production company worked like that right away, with this collaborative dimension. That’s why with people like George Lucas, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, we were all friends. None of us said anything bad about each other’s work. We helped each other. I’ve always defended this idea that when you form a group, nothing is impossible. In fact, we have shaken up the film industry with our films.

Have you achieved all your goals? Do you have any regrets?

No, there are two more films I want to make. And I think three with a bit of luck. I have some regrets, but not many. I’m not afraid of death. When you’re alive, you’re not dead… and when death comes, you don’t exist anymore. You never meet it! (smile) No, I am still full of ambition. My wife often told me: “Francis, turn off your brain!” (Eleanor died on April 12 at the age of 87 – Editor’s note). But I don’t know how to do it! The only way to turn off my brain is to have a new project and think about it.

>> Megalopolis by Francis Ford Coppola. With Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel. 2h18. In theaters Wednesday