The uproar around Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Megalopolis’ explained

Francis Ford Coppola has never played it safe. He cast a then-shunned Marlon Brando in “The Godfather,” filmed his Vietnam-themed epic “Apocalypse Now” in the Philippine jungles during a war and opted to make a movie about a bold automaker, Preston Tucker, who failed.
In so many instances, the filmmaker has put his personal vision first, and the results have ranged from box office flops to cinematic gold … not to mention five Oscars.
So it comes as no surprise that with his latest movie, “Megalopolis,” which made its North American premiere on Monday at Toronto International Film Festival, Coppola, 85, has once again thrown caution to wind. To finance his sprawling allegorical tale about urban greed, the director has poured $120 million harvested from his successful Napa Valley wine business into the film.
Not that Coppola seems worried. As he told GQ a few years ago as production on “Megalopolis” geared up, studio executives reacted to his new movie the same way they did “when I had won five Oscars and was the hottest film director in town and walked in with ‘Apocalypse Now’ and said, ‘I’d like to make this next.’ ”
“I own ‘Apocalypse Now,'” he said. “Do you know why I own ‘Apocalypse Now’? Because no one else wanted it.”
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Here’s what you need to know about Coppola’s new big-screen opus:
Join our Watch Party!Sign up to receive USA TODAY’s movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox
“Megalopolis” is a notable detour for Coppola, whose past movies are rooted in specific eras and in reality. For this film, which he has subtitled “A Fable,” the director is off on a futuristic science-fiction tangent while being inspired by the ancient past.
The movie stars Adam Driver as Cesar Catilina, an idealist architect with the power to control time, who is determined to rebuild a city that seems like New York after an accident plunges it into ruins. But Cesar’s utopian vision is challenged by corrupt mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), who would rather keep the graft-riddled husk of a city the way it is. Complicating matters is Cicero’s daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel), who comes between the two feuding men.
Coppola has been working on the script for four decades, and has taken much of his inspiration from the rise and fall of the Roman Empire (hence the name of Driver’s character, Cesar).
Beyond Driver and Esposito, the core cast includes Aubrey Plaza as a TV presenter named Wow Platinum, Shia LaBeouf as Cesar Catalina’s cousin Clodio Pulcher, and Jon Voight as Catalina’s uncle and bank boss, Hamilton Crassus III.
Other notable cast members include Laurence Fishburne − who launched his career at 14 in “Apocalypse Now” − as both the film’s narrator and Catalina’s driver. In addition, Coppola’s sister, Talia Shire, perhaps best known for her role as Rocky Balboa’s wife in the “Rocky” films, appears as Catalina’s mother, while Jason Schwartzman is part of Esposito’s corrupt cadre.
“Megalopolis” has had a rocky road to the big screen. After premiering to mixed reviews at Cannes Film Festival last May, it was bought a month later by Lionsgate, which will distribute the film.
Coppola’s epic will screen Sept. 23 in select IMAX theaters and be released Sept. 27 in traditional theaters.
USA TODAY film critic Brian Truitt was unsparing in his initial critique, calling it “bizarre and outlandish … a mangled wreck of New York story and Roman Empire epic.” Truitt ranked it last among the films he watched at Toronto Film Festival.
Writing for Forbes, fashion writer Tiffany Leigh focused on the elaborate costumes and sets. She cautiously noted that “watching this film is akin to seeing Coppola channeling his inner child … He has all these fun toys, and by god, is he going to play with every single one of them. As a result, the film has an unconventional aesthetic − a bit like a tapestry of artistic curios that is stitched together.”
The Hollywood Reporter noted that the screening “was preceded by a rapturous ovation for Coppola when he first came on stage to introduce the film, but that was followed by short and polite applause at the end.”
Among those who saw “Megalopolis” at Cannes back in May, the reactions also ran the gamut. For example, Vanity Fair‘s Richard Lawson wrote that while “some cinephiles will see value in the ‘Godfather’ director’s long-gestating epic, many more, though, will be left scratching their heads.”
In contrast, Rolling Stone‘s David Fear called the film “truly epic,” noting that “so long as there are people who love movies that are actually about things, and think about the past 6,000 years of human civilization, there is an audience for this.”
In May, an article in The Guardian reported that Coppola had engaged in “old school” behavior on the “Megalopolis” set, which included, during the two-day shoot of a nightclub scene, pulling half-dressed actresses onto his lap and kissing them.
In June, Coppola offered the New York Times a rambling response to the accusations, saying that he was “too shy” for such actions, adding that one of the women in question was someone he had known “since she was 9.”
In July, Variety surfaced video of Coppola on the set, showing the director trying to kiss multiple extras during the shoot. Some members of the production have defended the set as a safe place, while others have described Coppola as having ultimate control, given that he was financing the project.
In August, Lionsgate released the first official trailer for “Megalopolis,” only to recall it hours later.
Why? The clip opened with a series of alleged quotes from movie critics who had savaged Coppola films such as “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now,” movies that have since become classics. The implication was that anyone criticizing “Megalopolis” now was bound to be on the wrong side of film history.
The only problem: The quotes from real critics such as The New Yorker’s iconic Pauline Kael had been fabricated. Lionsgate issued a statement saying, “We offer our sincere apologies to the critics involved and to Francis Ford Coppola and (his production company) American Zoetrope for this inexcusable error in our vetting process.  We screwed up. We are sorry.” The revised trailer can be seen on YouTube.