Coppola responds to accusations of inappropriate behavior on the set of Megalopolis

“I'm not tactile. I'm too shy,” assures the director of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now.

A few weeks ago the 77th Cannes Film Festival closed. An edition marked by the return of the cinema giant Francis Ford Coppolawhich presented Megalopolis, a film that took him forty years to develop. A return somewhat tainted by accusations of inappropriate behavior by the director on the set of his masterpiece.

While Judith Godrèche presented the short film Me tooi and portrait on the steps of the Croisette his fight against sexist and sexual violence, The Guardian published a report on the production of Megalopolis reporting certain inappropriate gestures by the eighty-five-year-old director towards extras. He would thus have “attracted women to him to sit on his lap”or “tried to kiss topless and scantily clad extras” (as part of a festive scene).

Accusations which did not prevent Coppola from enjoying all the honors at Cannes, and from appearing on the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière to present the Honorary Palme d'Or to his lifelong friend, George LucasLike nothing ever happened.

However, Francis Ford Coppola responded to these accusations on the Croisette, by answering questions from a journalist from New York Times.

The director initially defended himself by relying on the education given to him by his mother, the actress Italia Pennino Coppola :

“My mother told me that if you make advances towards a woman, it's disrespecting her, and the girls I had crushes on, I certainly didn't disrespect them.”

Coppola then added: “I'm not tactile. I am too shy.”

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Manohla Dargisthe critic who wrote the article Timesthen writes that, “When pressed to say more, Coppola added that there was a photo of him kissing one of the girls on the cheek, taken by her father.”. “I knew her when she was nine years old,” the filmmaker would have added.

A somewhat light defense, which adds to the press release published by Darren Demetreexecutive producer of Megalopolis just after the article came out Guardian :

“I was never aware of any complaints of harassment or bad behavior during the project. (…) Francis successfully produced and directed a mammoth independent film, making all the difficult decisions to ensure it was delivered on time and on budget, while remaining true to his creative vision. For two days, we shot a celebratory scene in a Studio 54-style club, and Francis wandered onto the set to establish the scene. spirit of the stage by giving hugs and kisses on the cheek to the actresses, actors and extras. It was his way of inspiring and establishing the atmosphere of the club, which was so important to the film.

The complaints relayed by the Guardian also referred to the fact that Francis Ford Coppola was under the influence of marijuana throughout the filming of the film. Information that echoes the filming ofApocalypse Nowfrom which the same rumors reached us.

For the moment, no official complaint has been filed against the director and his film has found a distributor in France. Its release date is not yet known.

Francis Ford Coppola: “I haven't seen the negative reviews of Megalopolis”