Whatever you’ve heard about “Megalopolis,” see this bold Coppola film for yourself: NPR

Nathalie Emmanuel and Adam Driver star as Julia and Cesar Megalopolis.

Courtesy of Lionsgate/Courtesy of Lionsgate/Courtesy of Lionsgate

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Courtesy of Lionsgate/Courtesy of Lionsgate/Courtesy of Lionsgate

In the early 1980s, Francis Ford Coppola started with classics like The Godfather And Apocalypse now He had his sights set on his next major work: an ambitious, fairy-tale drama that would draw parallels between the United States and ancient Rome.

But after the costly flop of his 1982 musical One from the heartCoppola was unable to pull off another big-budget labor of love, and Megalopolis languished for decades. Only a few years ago he returned to the project, selling part of his wine business and investing $120 million of his own money. Even after production wrapped, there were continued setbacks, from difficulties finding a theatrical distributor to reports that Coppola behaved inappropriately toward women on set, which the director has denied.

Well, despite all odds, Megalopolis has arrived, and whatever you may or may not have heard about it, I urge you to see it for yourself. You might, like some of the critics at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, conclude Megalopolis is an unholy mess full of disjointed plots, didactic ideas and confused historical allusions – an epic folly of a once-great filmmaker who long ago lost his talent and possibly his sanity. All I can say is that every folly should have as much courage and passion as Megalopolis. I’ve seen it twice now and both times I was blown away by its beauty, its conviction and its moments of brilliance.

The story takes place in a city called New Rome, which closely resembles New York but features Roman decorations, from classical architecture to Bacchanalian parties to a Colosseum-style sports arena. The plot essentially updates a famous Roman power struggle from 63 BC

Adam Driver plays Cesar Catilina, an architect and designer who wants to transform New Rome into a dazzling futuristic utopia. But Cesar is challenged by the cynical mayor Franklyn Cicero – that’s Giancarlo Esposito – who sees Cesar as a delusional dreamer. The conflict is exacerbated by Cicero’s daughter Julia, a stubborn school dropout played by Nathalie Emmanuel, who asks Cesar for a job.

Coppola’s dialogues have a linguistic stiffness that takes some getting used to. But the story itself is a pretty straightforward mix of romance, sci-fi noir, and political thriller. Cesar hires Julia as his assistant and they become lovers. However, many complications arise.

There is the mystery of Cesar’s late wife, who died years ago under strange circumstances. There’s also a lot of dysfunctional family drama with Cesar’s filthy rich banker uncle, played by Jon Voight, and a cousin who doesn’t do any good – that’s Shia LaBeouf. Both men have their own sinister plans for the city’s future. And in the cliched role of a ruthless TV reporter, Aubrey Plaza steals every scene, as Plaza usually does.

There’s more, much more: horse-drawn carriages and nightclub unicorns, Old Hollywood-style filmmaking techniques and kaleidoscopic visual effects, wild sex and startling violence. There are also references to Pygmalion, Marcus Aurelius, Sapphic poetry and hamletwhose “To be or not to be” monologue Cesar delivers at one point. He is in the middle of an existential crisis and is afraid that humanity’s time is running out.

And if Megalopolis has a topic, it’s time. The characters constantly talk about time. The trippy production design is full of clocks and sundials. Cesar has the supernatural ability to briefly stop time, but even he cannot halt its advance for long. As I watched the film, I couldn’t stop thinking about Coppola, now 85, and his own struggle with time, including the four decades he spent becoming Megalopolis made.

But whatever resentment Coppola may feel toward an industry that has both honored and shunned him over the years, there is not a trace of bitterness in the film. Cesar believes in the future, and so does Coppola. Just because Rome fell, he seems to be saying, doesn’t mean the world must too. Wars can end, the planet can be saved, and people can choose to live in a more inclusive and just society.

Above all, Coppola clearly believes in the future of film and that, in a medium overwhelmed by franchises, streaming garbage and AI technology, there is still room for a work of art on the big screen that is so magnificently improbable and is deeply human like Megalopolis. Like so many of Francis Ford Coppola’s films, it is truly a film that comes from the heart.