Even in a totally made-up world and time like Megalopolis …

2 Responses to Even in a totally made-up world and time like Megalopolis …

1. mutecypher says:

   November 19, 2024 at 3:44 pm

   I was certain you’d catch Elvis, LOL.

   I saw Megalopolis and it took me about 30 minutes to relax and go with the style of the dialogue. “A Fable” is in the title, like “Streets of Fire, A rock & Roll Fable.” I had to get into the fable mood. There were parts I loved and parts where I’m not sure what Francis was putting into the mouths of his characters – particularly Aubrey Plaza’s.

   So I went back to the theater the next day. Still unsure of parts of it, how they hold together. The movie was more schematic than narrative, if that makes any sense. I’m a city visitor, not a city lover – so Francis’s dream isn’t mine. But why would it need to be? It’s his. I think I “got” what Shia LeBoeuf was doing in my second viewing.

   It’s not a rom-com, though I did like that marriage and family were so important. A Shakespearean ending. Adam Driver’s “In the club” shoulder shake gave me a good chuckle. It was funny to see Giancarlo Esposito playing an exasperated, ineffectual character after his Gus Fring and whatever his character’s name is on The Boys. The dude contains multitudes.

   I will definitely buy this when it’s available, I can easily see watching it again and again. Just about all the movies I own are stored in the cloud and on my hard drive. Somehow, I worry about this one and I’ll probably purchase the DVD.

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   • sheila says:

     November 20, 2024 at 8:27 am

     Aubrey Plaza is basically the reincarnation of Faye Dunaway in Network – down to the scene where Plaza rants about TV ratings and being on the front page while grinding on top of Adam Driver (Dunaway’s version of the same scene in Network is even more farcical – Coppola doesn’t really have the feel for farce – but Plaza does!

     In general, I am not on board at all with the idea of a Utopia city, or a Utopia in general. Atlas Shrugged. Utopias are totalitarian. They have to be. Also the focus on beautiful architecture is a way to avoid the really hard work of improving material circumstances for the people living in these new wonders – the beautiful architecture, dwarfing human beings, moving humans to the periphery – also totalitarian. Hitler and Albert Speer lost themselves in fantasies of streets and boulevards and buildings – to a delusional degree. So I’m inherently cynical (or skeptical) towards these projects – and I’m not sure FFC shares my cynicism. I think he’s into it, into The Emerald City of it all. People will be happy if their surroundings are beautiful. I mean, it’s NICE, but no, people are happy if they have health care and enough to eat and don’t spend their whole lives worrying about getting through the day. I was kind of on Shia’s side, lol. which made the whole thing even more interesting!

     To give credit: I feel like the impulse behind the film is the opposite of totalitarian. I think FFC is searching for a possibility of moving forward as a human race. He’s making the connections between the ravages of empire and the depressed present – he feels for the people caught up in the fights between these lofty people – the mayor, the genius architect – neither of whom have any feel for human beings. and they’re in charge! this is not good news for anyone.

     I thought it was visually gorgeous – especially all those shots of New York City – Grand Central. the Chrysler Building – that made it look totally unreal, like something imagined in a dream. did they do it with models? or drones? Stunning – the buildings in NYC, the old ones, the famous ones – are not totalitarian. (What’s being done to the skyline now though? the threat of it? Totalitarian. These assholes have to constantly be pushed back on – they want to build skyrises on the West side of Central Park – which would plunge the park into shadow for much of the day. The fight is CONSTANT – to keep these rich dicks from ruining everything. The Park is FREE. it’s for EVERYONE. Central Park is a REVOLUTION in city planning. even if you work a minimum wage job and can barely get by, you can walk 10 blocks to the park and lie in the grass all day and it costs nothing. stop trying to ruin everything good in this world.

     I thought some of the performances were pretty iffy – particularly the young lead actress, who – sorry – didn’t seem to know what she was doing at all. her line readings made me think she didn’t even know what she was saying. But the movie isn’t really about the performances, or relatability – it’s about ideas.

     They’re old ideas – the dream of a utopia where people can be happy. Like I said, I distrust even the idea because … to have a utopia, you have to iron out differences. All it takes is one unruly element to ruin the whole thing!

     I thought it was bombastic and ridiculous – but to me these aren’t criticisms. the film FEELS personal, and I’m all for it.

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