First trailer for Megalopolis, Francis Ford Coppola's final project

Unique work or “mega-flop”? Coppola's Megalopolis is the most divided film on the Croisette

ByLeila

Since its first screening last week, opinions have differed. Here is a selection of the best and worst about Megalopolis.

The press is looped on Francis Ford Coppola and his titanic project: Megalopolis. While the two-time Cannes Palme d'Or-winning director even went so far as to dip into his personal coffers to finance his decades-long dream of the modern epic, and hire a five-star cast, no one could imagine that the result would also be divisive. However, it has been almost a week since this film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival and some spectators still have a hard time digesting what they saw. The world of cinema is upside down. Megalopolis is surely the feature film in the selection of this 77th edition which most divides film buffs. Fall or peak of the Coppola empire, let's take a look at the criticism.

Cannes 2024 – We saw Megalopolis, the monstrous film by Francis Ford Coppola (review)

The detractors

In this category, puns abound and can no longer be counted, like an Internet user on Letterboxd who writes “Megaloflopis.” SO Megalopolis is it really a flop? For the BBC which only gives one star, most certainly. British media titles a film “horribly low-end and amateurish”and ends his criticism with:

“It's like listening to someone tell you about the crazy dream they had last week and they won't stop talking for over two hours.”

For The Guardian who criticizes the lesson giver for the lack of passion and unfinished special effects, “Coppola's passion project is mega-bloated and mega-boring.”

On the French-speaking side, Telerama failed to find anything positive in Megalopolis – unless maybe Adam Driver. The movie is “catastrophic” and it is a “failure”:

“It’s heartbreaking that Coppola is struggling to captivate with the blockbuster film he so desired.”

The flatterers

They are few in number but they are there: those who loved Megalopolis. The journalist ofIndieWireDavid Ehrlich writes on twitter:

“Megalopolis : madness is a device, not an anomaly! A garish, epic and utterly singular $120 million self-portrait that is also a fable about the fall of ancient Rome and a plea to save our civilization (and its cinema) from itself. Very fan.”

The magazine TIME wrote a long review singing the praises of the film, taking its defense body and soul and admiring the beauty of the gesture, the filmmaker's desire to want to change the world for the better. A poetic fable far from the nihilistic films that we can see in cinemas today.

“You might want to laugh at Megalopolis, you may be tempted to leave the theater and you won't be wrong to say that the film holds nothing back. Then again, don't we have enough films that please audiences, seeking simply to appease and please, and never to offend legions of fans who have very specific ideas of what they want from the industry? “

On Letterboxd, we can also read: “You could say it was the weed Francis smoked during filming that made it such an incredible film,” And “The closest thing I can think of about the style of this film and this world would be Metropolis by Fritz Lang and Napoleon by Abel Gance – but with limitless creativity. And even that is not enough to describe what I just saw.”

In France, The Unrockuptibles title “Megalopolis is it Coppola's new masterpiece?” For them, the film only disappoints those who came to see a new Apocalypse Now – just like in the days ofApocalypse Nowthe film could have disappointed the fans who came to see a new Godfather.

If two camps emerge, many spectators on the reserve play in the center. On Letterboxd, the majority of ratings are around average. However, out of the entire selection, Megalopolis is at the bottom of the ranking in the public rating:

Will this prevent Francis Ford Coppola from obtaining a third Palme d'Or? He who does not seem to be aware of the bad reviews, as he told the media The Wrap ? Response at the end of the week. As to whether Megalopolis is a masterpiece? Only time will tell. Who knows, maybe in fifteen years it will become a cult object!

Family, politics, money: Francis Ford Coppola's very personal press conference

Leila
Leila

Leila is the editor-in-chief at DTmovies, leading the charge with her team to deliver engaging cinema and series content. With a keen eye for emerging trends and a passion for the stories behind the screen, she is the creative backbone that drives the site’s editorial excellence. Her expertise and dedication have established DTmovies as a go-to source for film and series enthusiasts.

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