Francis Ford Coppola’s divisive talk about Cannes

films

by Mara Siegler

Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” received a ten-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, but the film is divisive among critics, many of whom appear torn by their own opinions.

Coppola spent $120 million of his own money on the film, which stars Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman.

“I don’t care, I’ve never cared about money,” the 85-year-old director said at a press conference in Cannes. “In the end, there are a lot of people when they die who say: ‘I wish I had done this, I wish I had done that’.”

He added: “But when I die I will say: I have to do this.” I have to see my daughter [Sofia] I won an Oscar, I got to make wine, I got to make all the movies I wanted to make. I’ll be so busy thinking about what to do that when I die I won’t even notice.

New York timesFilm critic Manohla Dargis described the move as a “big leap”, but added: “I don’t think Megalopolis will be accessible to everyone, but art rarely is.” She also wrote: “Admittedly, it took me some time to get used to both the dialogue and the performances, which while not completely off-putting did feel destabilizing.”

Delivery time Call it the movie“A bit of a mess – unruly, over-the-top, drawn to pretentiousness like a moth to a flame. And yet it is also a most astonishing achievement, the work of a master artist who moved to IMAX like Caravaggio to canvas.

“You might actually wonder what Jason Schwartzman thinks he’s doing, or whether Dustin Hoffman has called his agent to negotiate a quick exit,” the review adds.

the The Hollywood Reporter asked“Is it a good movie? Not by a long shot. But it’s not something you can easily dismiss either.”

“An architect wants to rebuild New York City as a utopia after a devastating disaster,” the film’s synopsis says, but many critics seem confused. a New York Magazine An online headline asked: “What are megacities?”

Aside from all the confused critics, the hype around the festival was over Report in The Guardian Who accused Coppola of inappropriate behavior on the film set.

Anonymous sources claimed that the director pulled women to sit on his lap and “tried to kiss some of the topless and topless models,” claiming he was “trying to get them in a good mood.”

Executive producer Darren Demeter denied the report, telling The Hollywood Reporter: “I was never aware of any complaints of harassment or misconduct during the course of the project.”

“There were two days when we shot a party club scene at Studio 54 where Francis was walking around the set establishing the spirit of the scene by giving hugs and gentle kisses on the cheek to the actors and background players,” he said. to publish.

“It was his way of helping to inspire and create the club atmosphere, which was very important to the film. I was never aware of any complaints of harassment or misconduct during the course of the project.