"By most metrics, Coppola's mission to transform both filmmaking and human communication was not successful. The theater-going business, unfortunately, wasn't much affected by the iconic filmmaker's self-financed passion project, and humans are still communicating as shittily as ever, despite Coppola launching a small, "interactive" Megalopolis roadshow that emphasized the need to "talk out" the world's ills."
"I've written plenty on the movie before, fascinated by the huge shadow its $120-million budget cast, wholly put up by the revered creative scion himself, but Megadoc is saturated by that shadow. This is Francis' money, and he is nothing if not an artist whose legacy is guaranteed, so every person on screen wrestles with an important, sometimes incredibly compromising question: What does Francis Ford Coppola want?"
""I know what I'm talking about...GIVE ME WHAT I WANT," he yells in the general direction of Shia LeBeouf (as Clodio Pulcher, the protagonist's gross cousin), when blocking an especially inconsequential scene. "Don't give me what I don't want," he later flatly says to the small group of Megalopolis ' department heads during an "emergency" visual effects meeting. First Assistant Director Mariela Comitini looks like she hasn't slept in days, admitting, "Yeah, [the job involves] trying to anticipate what he wants, and you can't. Nobody really can.""
Megadoc chronicles the making of Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis and the turmoil surrounding its production. Coppola self-financed the film with a $120-million budget and pursued a mission to change filmmaking and human communication. The project included a small "interactive" roadshow that urged people to "talk out" societal problems. The film failed by most metrics, leaving theaters unaffected and communication unchanged. Megadoc depicts a production saturated by the shadow of Coppola's money and legacy. Department heads struggle to anticipate his demands amid urgent meetings and blocked scenes. The film suggests Coppola primarily wants space and resources to discover his aims.
Read at Portland Mercury
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]