Francis Ford Coppola, on the 120 million dollars he spent on ‘Megalopolis’: “Money doesn’t matter” | Culture

45 years ago, Francis Ford Coppola appeared before the press at the Cannes festival to talk about Apocalypse Now (with which he would win his second Palme d’Or), accompanied by his daughter, Sofia. This Friday he did it with Cosima, her little granddaughter, 13 years old, holding her hand, and sitting her behind her back. “Like I did with her mother,” he explained to a packed press room, dedicated to cheering the filmmaker, who has returned to the competition with Megalopolis: For some, a work that advances cinema along the most risky paths of experimentation, risking every second with formats and a storm of ideas; for others, a nonsense, a fall into the abysses of simplicity, cheap imagery and a certain machismo after a poor digestion of politics, sociology, history, Freixenet advertisements, the brilli brilli of director Baz Luhrmann and the shame of others caused by the worst moments of the Wachowski sisters. Given the atmosphere of the event, there was more support from the first faction.

Coppola crossed the red carpet on Thursday well escorted by a large part of the artistic team, which combines familiar faces in his career (Laurence Fishburne, who at the age of 14 worked in Apocalypse Now; his sister, Talia Shire; or her son Roman Coppola) with new members of the band: Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Giancarlo Esposito and Aubrey Plaza). The filmmaker was seen tired, carrying the ailments of his 85 years, leaning on Romy Mars, Sofia’s eldest daughter, and affected by the death of his wife, Eleanor, to whom he dedicates Megalopolis. This Friday, however, he appeared in better shape, skillfully handling his usual loud voice and giving away dialectical pearls. He wanted to speak, after weeks in which others have done it for him: from the private screening in Los Angeles, to the complaints of two extras in Guardian about his inappropriate behavior at the filming of the movie’s kickoff party.

For now, he defined himself in a state of mind between “relief and joy” after the screening the previous day in the large Lumière theater of the Cannes festival palace. And that feeling was conveyed when they asked him about the 120 million dollars (110 million euros) that it has cost Megalopolis, all coming out of his pocket and for which he has sold part of his wine empire: “My children, without exception, have wonderful careers without a fortune behind them. We’re ok. It doesn’t matter. I warn you: money does not matter. The important thing is friends. A friend will never let you down. “Money can evaporate.” For this reason, there is only one credit title before the film begins, that of its production company, American Zoetrope.

The filmmaker is known for constantly editing and retouching his films. “Do you know why I do it? Because they belong to me.” He would never ride again The conversation (his first Palme d’Or) because he likes it the way it is. “I have one more sequence of The Godfather which I might add one day.” Will you do the same with Megalopolis? “I could go back and revisit the epic in a few years,” although he made it clear that it is not a testamentary film and that he is writing a script for a new project.

Megalopolis It plays with the iconography of the Roman Empire to move to a dystopian New York, something that seemed obvious to Coppola: “Because the American republic was founded on the Roman republic.” And we already know how they ended 2,000 years ago. “Our current policy has brought us to the point where we could lose our republic,” the filmmaker commented. “It is not the politicians who are going to be the answer. I feel like it’s American artists. My dream, my hope, is that the artists of our country are the ones who enlighten us.” And that is why he is afraid of “the fascist wave that the world is suffering; “Anyone who has lived through the horrors of World War II does not want them to be repeated.”

And with that said, Coppola, who has haggled over naming Donald Trump in the phrase of the fascist wave, turned to actor Jon Voight, known for his ultra-conservative ideas, to clarify that the team included people from across the political spectrum, even from the further removed from Coppola’s ideology. The veteran interpreter responded that everyone asks the same question, how to help the planet for the next generation. That is why he supports the director’s message: “I agree with this film, I agree that human beings are capable of solving all the problems we get into.”

Megalopolis It still has no distribution in the United States, although it has already found buyers for almost all European territories, including Spain. Hence his pain and exasperation after the screening of Megalopolis in Los Angeles, at the end of March, which ended without an offer. “The studios are very, very indebted and their job is not so much to make movies as to pay their debt obligations,” he analyzed, later suggesting that technology companies like Apple, Amazon and Microsoft, “with a lot of money,” could be the future and that “the studies, some wonderful, might not be here in that future.” His desire is for the film to be seen “in a room for 500 or 600 people to enjoy the experience.” “The thing about streaming “It’s another business.”

His sister, actress Talia Shire, was hidden among the rest of the crew and smiled with an admiring look when her brother said things like “art is like controlling time” or “architecture is frozen music.” Only almost at the end did she speak, forced by Francis. “He is an innovator. Looking back is comfortable, but you have to move forward, and Francis always thinks about going forward. He was already an innovator at the age of 9, when he was motionless for a year due to polio. And (addressing him) you only thought about walking. I know that when I work with Francis I make progress.”

It was by no means a farewell: “I hope to be here for another 20 years and that is why I am with the new script.” Although, probably influenced by people close to him who have recently died, such as the aforementioned Eleanor Coppola, or the man who opened the door to filming, Roger Corman, Coppola reflected: “Many people, when they die, think about everything. What he could have done and didn’t even try. I don’t. I have seen my daughter win the Oscar, I have made wine, I have made all the movies she wanted to make.” And he concluded that death probably caught him like this: working.

_