EMERGENCY BONUS EPISODE: MEGAFLOPOLIS (or: Francis Ford Coppola's Roman Empire)

We had to, it was unavoidable. Francis Ford Coppola's 40-year-long passion project has finally come to fruition and it was important that we discussed it. So here is a bonus episode. Listen as we attempt to decipher how, what and why. Just why?

References
That hotel Coppola owns for filmmakers
Twelve Against The Gods by William Bolitho Ryall
A BTS argument on Bram Stoker’s Dracula between FFC and Gary Oldman
"Making a Mess: A History of Megalopolis" by Be Kind Rewind

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Edited and produced by Lily Austin and James Brailsford
Original music by James Brailsford

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Transcript

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The catering was probably nice. Welcome to a very special episode of groovy movies. My name is Lily Austin, and my name is James Brailsford. Hello, hello. This is a very special episode, because it's an emergency bonus episode. I just I James. I had, the minute the film finished, I was like, I need to talk. I need to talk to James. Urgently, easy. I wish I'd like made a record of this, because in my head, in the last couple of weeks leading up to Megalo plays, I just thought in my head. I thought, There's no way Lily won't want to do a special emergency episode. So I was, I was fully prepared. I was like, if, as you know, I will say yes as soon as she asked. But I'm curious to know, because also, we've also got all the shit going on in our lives. I'm waiting for the call, and as you probably really I was very snappy with my response. I think I got back to you very quickly, because I've been I was like, is it gonna happen? It's I just I felt it. I felt it was gonna happen. That's true, though. I will say you are actually, you're a very snappy responder in general. I feel like that's one of your superpowers. Yes. I Oh my god. Like, where do we even begin? I actually, I'll start at the beginning with the fact that, thanks to James, I had excellent tickets to go see Megalo for this, James has told me, and I think our listeners a few times about the magic that is the IMAX community on WhatsApp, various groups for people who are intense No, just, just, we just enjoy a good time at the cinema, of course. But like, I was saying, this is, like, an intensely deep love of IMAX, not just cinema, IMAX. And, like, yeah, for sure, yeah. And, I mean, there's the two things do cross over occasionally, but you're quite right, you know they are can also be very separate, yeah. And, and you've told me about this group and how great it is and all the benefits many times, but I don't know what it was that finally made me say, Okay, actually, I'd love to join this group, but something I was quite surprised, I have to say Lily when you when ironically asked to join, yeah, well, and, oh my god, is it paying dividends? Because first thing first was when megalopolis dropped, I think it was you who actually said, like, you know, they've announced it in the group. Okay, it's not like seeing, you know, Oppenheimer or something. There wasn't going to be the same thumb rush to get tickets. But still, it was exciting to get, like, an early flag about this. So I immediately bought two tickets. And then after I'd bought the tickets, it was announced that this showing was going to have an introduction by Francis Ford Coppola in person. So I was like, Oh, my God, my mind is blown, and I can't do this. Yeah. Well, the reason you don't know much about it, James is because I then got incredibly sick with it could have been COVID. Was definitely a very terrible flu, and I literally could not go. I wanted to so badly, but I was so ill that I couldn't go. No, I didn't realize it's been quite this journey. It has. But again, the IMAX community, fantastic. I could just post in the group, and immediately sold the tickets to someone who was, like, really excited to sit. So heartbreaking for me, but at least they didn't go to waste. No, that is great. Yeah, I was fantastic. And also then I looked and was like, Okay, where can I see it? Because I was thinking, Okay, the next day, I should feel a bit better. I don't have the same early start. And my fiance was coming to town, and he really wanted to sit. So the virtue is, I get to sit with him. So I looked, where could I sit in an IMAX cinema? Very telling that there was only one IMAX screening of it in the whole of London the following day, when it only been out a week, and that was at, like the Swiss Cottage Odeon. Very kind of random plays. So we go there. Oh, you went there? I've been to that one. Yeah, yes. And also, I posted in the IMAX group before, as I was buying the tickets going to this IMAX, which row should I buy? And immediately I got to, I have to say contradictory replies, but still very useful to have feedback. So I bought the tickets. Me and Leo go to the cinema. And when we get there, the guys are, oh, these tickets are for next week, so get a refund, go have some drinks instead. And then the next day, I have to say, not in IMAX, because there was nowhere to see it. And this was my last chance. I went to see it. We went to see it like an everyman. The following afternoon, the film started at half an hour late because there was a children's birthday party just before that had overrun, which looked incredible, by the way, they'd been watching Harry Potter. There was all the kiddies were dressed in the costumes looked amazing. I want to have a birthday party there. And the and the experience of watching it with everyone, everyone the cinema was laughing the whole way through. So at the end, it was just, honestly, the minute the credits rolled, I just began slow clapping, like iconic movie. This is just incredible. So of course, after that, I was like, Okay, I need to hear what James thinks. Yeah, I had tickets to go see an IMAX I think, oh, maybe not opening weekend, but the Friday of the second week, I can't remember, but I ended up working that day, which I hadn't planned on doing. I wasn't meant to be working, so I just was a bit knackered. And it got to the evening, I just thought, I'm just not in the mood for any movie. Quite frankly, it wasn't just a diss again. Francis Ford Coppola, I mean, the thing is, and it was galling, because ah, but it's to see his latest film in IMAX like ah. But I just couldn't, I went home. And so then I've just never quite got around to rescheduling, and then when you got in touch, like, right, fine. This is, this is, I don't need any more prompting, I'm definitely going to go see it. So yeah, so I went a couple of days ago. And yeah, so my viewing, it wasn't a sold out viewing, but it was certainly quite busy for whatever it was, you know, a very small screen. Mine was at the view print works. And it was actually a decent sized screen because the view have done this thing where they've got all their seating as recliners now. So most cinemas will be a bit smaller seeming, but the screen themselves, the screen itself is huge, and I think they're pretty good at that, and they've upgraded to laser as well. So it was actually a really great screen to watch it on. It wasn't, you know, as far as not being IMAX, it wasn't bad for that whole thing, but, but yeah, it was a muted crowd, though. We didn't get any, we didn't get have any laughter, any nothing, you know, just everyone was just kind of watching the film. So it wasn't IMAX either, unfortunately, not. No, it was, but it was. So neither have seen it in IMAX, but I'll be honest with Lily, just to get a bit technically, it's, it wasn't filmed specifically for IMAX. It was just been presented on IMAX. So it's not like we got, you'd got, like, when you see a Nolan film, you get that expanded height. It's just it would have been the biggest image. So I feel like I saw it like, fairly representative of what, what the director envisaged. It was. It wasn't a small screen. It was decent sized, but not IMAX. Okay, well, there's the setup to our viewing experience, but shall we try and tackle the plot? I feel like the the box office suggests that not a lot of people have or will be seeing this film, so I feel like we can be fairly explicit with the with the storyline, perhaps not full spoilers, just in case. Yeah, I don't even know how to spoil this film. Honestly, it's all a big, big mess. I mean, you say plot. I mean, I was watching it, I was like, what, what's going on again? What, what's happening? So, like, I was like, you know, it's kind of, I guess it's a bit more like on the apocalypse. Now, end of the spectrum, right? It's like, I don't really know what's happening. But even then I got the idea that he was going to see COVID. Going to see Colonel Kurtz and kill him. At least it was a mission act. I was like, what was? What's Adam Driver doing? Again? Caesar, yeah, so plot building a nice megalopolis from some material thing I don't know Well, the bonus of seeing this film with an Italian was I got to hear about the actual historic story that this film is based on, yeah, because I didn't realize it was based on a Roman or Greek, something stories. Oh, right, Roman story, yeah. So there is an interesting story behind the not so interesting film. So Adam Driver plays an architect, right? A starchitect. You could say he's a big deal in this New York. And it's set in like it's meant to be now New York, but it's an alternative now New York. It feels sort of futuristic, but in this weirdly dated way. And Adam Driver plays Caesar, Catalina and Giancarlo Esposito plays Mayor Frank cezero. And Catalina and Cesaro were actual people in Roman times in like 83 BC, really long time ago, and Cesaro was basically one of the, like, most senior politicians in the Roman Republic, and Catalina was like another politician who had tried a few times to become the leader of the Roman Republic via democratic means, like he'd run for office basically three times, each time he was unsuccessful. And so he was like, fuck this shit and starts a coup, right? So up until recently, the idea, the story, like what we know about this major event in Roman history from so long ago is only basically what the winner of the consul Cesaro had to say about it, which was like, Catalina was a bad man. He was corrupt. He wanted to get power, and so the coup happened, and then we killed him. But now there have been all these historians who were like, is he actually a bad man, or is he like a proto socialist who was trying to just change the power structure? And yeah, okay, he was in debt, but he also really liked poor people and wanted to help them, the plebs, as they were called in. In Roman times. So there's, like, an interesting story that this is based on, which does actually seem to have a few commonalities with France for copper zone story, the fact that Catalina was this, like, successful but very broke man who wanted to, like, change the structure of Rome, yeah? Like France for copper in Hollywood, right? Oh, absolutely, absolutely, he tried to change it, but he ended up destroying him, yeah? But unfortunately, most of that story isn't really in the film, right? Because I don't think that all of that comes through, no, absolutely not Lily. I mean, what you know, when you've read it out, I'm like, okay, yeah, get it. I get it. But you literally have to sit there and be told it like, you've just did it to me and like, you know, it's not that apparent, yeah, yeah. And I won't, I won't go into any more of that, that backstory, but it's way more interesting than the actual film that was made. If there had actually been a film which was closer to this real life event in Rome, but in modern day New York, or a version of your I feel like that would have been so interesting. But instead, the film gets so confused by because basically, we've got this, we've got the Roman Empire thing going on, and clearly, and this is like the setup at the very start the film, right? That modern day New York is like the last days of the Roman Republic. He's drawing this parallel, which, by the way, is also something he he got for a book that Elon Musk is obsessed with. And I really felt like Adam driver was some kind of weird prototype. Elon Musk, yeah, all these good actions there, but like, alongside that, essentially, it's just a Romeo and Juliet story, right? Because, yeah, the other story, strand of the of the plot is that Adam driver gets with Cicero, the mayor's daughter, Julia, and they're like, Star crossed lovers, because the mayor hates Catalina and wants to take him down. I mean, I I got heavy, heavy one from the heart vibes from that relationship. Those two characters, they're just like, does it doesn't quite ring true. Very undercooked, a bit kind of hammy, uh, kind of but, um, but. So I say it was, it was reminding me very, I mean, the whole thing is, like, it's essentially, if one from the heart is the A grade version of this kind of Francis Ford Coppola movie. This is, like, this c plus grade version of it. I say it's like, it's him doing a bad movie. It's him doing a swing and a miss. But I watched it, and so many of the reviews have put me into a mind of probably not liking it. But there was one student at the film school teacher, and most students were like, dismissed it, but one said, but he was trying to do something, and it didn't work. But it's like, shouldn't we be applauding that? And I was like, Yeah, we should be really. It's like, and as I was watching it, I just thought, yeah, you know, this is the kind of thing that it doesn't work, and it's a mess, and it's, it's, it's kind of silly, but he's trying to do something, I guess, just the something is a bit like, to be honest, the overall oppression is, like, of one of the greatest student films ever made. It's just got this slightly, it just needs to mature a little bit, I don't know, for me, it was working. Like, like, even though I'm being, I have so many criticisms of the film and, like, narratively, it doesn't really work or make sense. Like, it was very, very confusing. It was a weird combination of being super confusing, but actually a complete, a very, very simple plot, yeah. And also, it's, like, so full of rhetoric the whole way through. There's so much about it's, like, the French plantation sequence, the movie kind of, yeah, he's, he's like, chewing over this concept of of America being New Rome and it being at the end of it states, which does sound, I get it like a really interesting parallel to draw. But unfortunately, I don't think he's like a deep thinker in this way. And so he it doesn't really, he's not able to really, well, that's what I mean, connect the dots this. Sorry, no, no, but yeah, I'm with you on that completely. But I was having so much film watching it a student film, because, like, not the wrong student felt, but like it's, it's, to me, it's more that it's like it is clearly the film of a man who's been making films for such a long time because, and also this film for such long time because it's so overworked to the point of being it's like whipping cream until it's like splitting in, like, chunky almost. It's like, you know, not smooth anymore. It's like, he's, he's gone too far with it, and it's like a mess. But yeah, it tastes like cream. Yeah, exactly like I was entertained by like, like, say, for me, this was a one from the heart type of thing, where it's a bit big old mess, but he's trying to do something. And there's moments where he just said, Oh, this is pretty cool. There's some really nice, abstract, strange kind of sequences throughout and this. So, you know, there's some, some nice. Cinematography does vary between being very beautifully done and sometimes looking a little bit TV drama. You know, it's, it kind of sorry. I was just shaking my head because I thought it looked terrible. It's definitely his worst looking film. No, like it. I actually was. I thought I was expecting to look worse than it did. It's, it's one of his better, I think it's his better looking digital film. It's, you know, it's, it's nowhere near, I mean, you can't even compare it to any of his, like film, films, but like, since, since he came back in 2007 all these digital films just, just don't look great. I'm not sure if digital is his medium on it. No, it's not. It's not. I also, I don't know if it's just the fact of trying to set it in like an alternate reality, but the esthetic of it is so it's like an 80s version of the future, almost, but also done with, like, I don't, I really want to be like, a bitch about it, But like, who came out with the costumes, because the styling is so crazy. It's like, it's obviously like Roman inflected. There's like, a kind of toga vibe to a lot of the clothes and a lot of really ugly jewelry. But it just comes across as very cheap and very, very unreal. Like, one of the things that's very jarring, there are many, many jarring things in this film, and one of them is like at the during this setup, the first few scenes of the film, we understand that Julia Cicero, the mayor's daughter, is a sort of socialite. And that one basically our introduction to her is the fact that scandal she's posed naked in a newspaper, which also is very like the cement of 21st century. Like, how 90s is that? But whatever. And she's like with all these girls parties, having a wild time. And then we quite quickly shift to her wanting to work with Adam drives character, Catalina wants to work with this architect. And they start having this relationship, and she kind of goes from being party animal socialite to very serious jobbing assistant, and she's wearing all these like mumsy dresses. Come on. Who is this girl? What's the deal? What is it? I don't know what the deal is. I don't know what it is either. But no, it's again, you just think one from the heart didn't look this cheap. In fact, one from the heart looked very, very expensive in a lot of places. And he's like, where did the 100 million go? And I guess, because a lot of it as well, it does. None of it benefits from being shot on a virtual production stage. So a lot of those backgrounds, I mean, it kind of works with the esthetic, but it also adds to the cheap vibe, you know, just there's those kind of virtual sets that they're in, so they're not even in real locations, all that kind of stuff. Oh my gosh, I don't watch a lot of superhero movies. It must be. Obviously, everyone knows who this is, this podcast. But so I don't know if this is a normal thing to be thinking when you're watching a film, but the number of times watching Adam Driver and Natalie Emmanuel, who plays Julia, them standing, theoretically walking in the sky the Empire State Building. But instead, I was just imagining the fact that they're in a green room with a green screen. Well, no, no, they're not in a green room anymore. The technology changed, so, you know, in an LED volume, so there's a huge LED screen that wraps around you, that projects the image. So it's better than they can see what they're doing, yeah. And so then they're illuminated by the light from that scene. But it still looks fake if you fill most of your frame with it. And even worse, if you're trying to simulate outdoors, which you can't fake at all. It just that, you know, you know. So, so if you use sparingly, it's much better than green screen. But anyway, there we go. But yeah, I was like this. This doesn't work, you know. But it did make me imagine, imagine that scene on the on if he'd done it for real or with stunt people out on real girders on the side of a skyscraper in setting in film, it would have been a spectacular set. As far as little sequence was that it just looked like some wooden girders hanging in a in a studio, you know, it didn't really transport me. Yes, because I think, I guess we should mention that aspect of the character development and plot, Caesar Catalina Adam drives character. He's not only a very successful architect, he also can pause time. Yeah, we do odd things with time, which I didn't really Yeah. I mean, I guess me and my old you know, love a good plot, where things happen in the plot. I was expecting the time stoppage maybe to have a plot point of some description. It just, but, but that would but then again, I was watching it, thinking, No, James, you're not allowed that kind of that's a Normie thing to do. What the hell were you thinking that you've watched too many Marvel film. James, no, we can introduce some magical, supernatural power, and it goes nowhere. That's movie making, baby, but it has some connection to Julia, right? And their relationship, because she could also pause time with him, yeah, like it is to do with, like, being, oh my God, I didn't even know, I don't know what it was about. Yeah, but can we talk about one of the good things about the movie, Aubrey Plaza, oh, yeah, I thought she was good. I thought she could, I mean, I was gonna say I quite like Shia LaBeouf. I thought, you know, he was, he was annoying and greasy and awful, but I kind of liked it. It felt like he was playing to type. I mean, yeah. I mean, it was perfectly cast. He's an absolute creep, and he played an absolute creep, so that was perfect, and you're right, him and Aubrey him and Aubrey Parsa kind of played the two evil villains on the side. Aubrey Plaza plays a woman called Wow platinum, which, which gave me massive Southland tale. Vibes. Was like, now, yeah, I was gonna say. I was like, yeah, oh, that was it. Chris Christen, now I was Krista, wow, but yeah, both very powerful names, and that'd be good, a good double bill, sermon, tailed and megalopolis, yeah. I love it. A flop double bill, yeah. But all people, I thought was fantastic, because she was very much giving show girls, kind of Gina Gershon vibes, like she's the only one who really got how absurd this was. And she Oh yeah, push it to the to the as far as she could take it like she was mega camp, mega over the top. And I mean, what a storyline for her her home. Motivation was to try and get Adam driver to reciprocate her love. So her way of doing that is to marry Jon Voight, who plays his, of course, very old uncle, then try and steal all of his money, then bankrupt Adam Driver, so that Adam driver will want to get with her perfect plan, just Marin, John Voight going at it, and then, and then the flirting, the flirting between John and, wow. What is it? Wow. Platinum. Is that? Is that? Oh no, it was because, you know, because, of course, copper encouraged the cast to improvise. So those did sound like improvised. Takes away. I bet he wasn't improvised. He was just hitting on Oldbury Plaza, I reckon. But, um, yeah, that's why, because the visual effects team and the art department walked out halfway through the brooksham magalopolis because of all this improvisation and things constantly changing and being rewritten, because that's going to totally screw over props people, and also the visual effects people are planning all these shots, and they all go out the window. So, yeah, oh my god. I mean that also explains a lot as well. Yeah, because there are so many moments like, did you notice a scene early on when Wow, platinum and Cesar Catalina are getting it on in that very messy bedroom? No idea why that was, like, a key part of her personality, that she has a mercy bedroom, but whatever, and they like start to get in, they're about to have sex. And so while platinum dress comes off, and then this, the camera angle changes her dress is back on. Camera angle changes her dress is back off. This I know, because I was so mesmerized by this dress, I thought it was pretty cool. Actually, that was the one outfit I really liked in the film. I couldn't help but notice that. And then, like later on in another scene, an extra behind Cesaro, or someone making a speech, was there, and then gone, there and then gone. Oh, wow, all these I noticed it so many times. And also a very small number of extras that we kept saying again and again, really, oh my god, I normally spot that kind of stuff, and I didn't even go, blimey, I'm losing I think because I was, because I wasn't being that engaged with them, simulated exactly by the storyline itself. I was just kind of taking in all the other elements. But I think that explains that if you're doing that many improvised takes, yeah, these kinds of things can't be covered. Yeah, yeah, that'll be it basically, okay. Well, I mean, I feel like there are a lot of reasons why this film just doesn't really hang together. Probably the biggest one being the fact that he's been working on it. Francisville Cobb has been working on it for about 40 years, right? I feel like that tells us a lot. Yeah, and I don't know, it's clear that he wants to say something with it, but I just don't know quite what he wants to say. But, and part of me just thought, has he really been working on this script for that long? I know he came with the idea in 80 or in 7783 start doing bits of work on it. But part of it just feels like almost a bit rushed, as if it was written like a first. It's a curious mixture of these big ideas, but they've not been given any, you know, they've not been thought about, really. They're almost just thrown it in there. Yeah, I think you're right. I mean, so apparently, he first came up with the idea in 1977 and then, just after he had finished one from the heart and was deep in his bankruptcy era. He he began working writing a first draft properly. So in 1984 he had his first full draft, and really began talking about this film publicly. So this is the thing. It's been a film that. Like people in the industry and people who follow his work, have heard about it again and again and again. I've heard about it for as long as I can remember, very early into ever hearing about Francis Ford Coppola, which was probably later than the, you know, 84 it was probably early, the late 80s, Levine. So megalopolis was always this kind of thing that was floating around. You know, when you read articles or anything to do with couple, it was often not, often, occasionally, would come up with something that is this project, this special project he's had bubbling away for years, which only makes it more tragic that it hasn't really worked out. I feel like this is definitely a lesson in, like, keep your ideas to yourself until they come to fruition, because, because, also you just never know which ones will hit and which ones won't. So it's best don't talk about any of them. Well, part of me did think as watching it, I just thought maybe it's just the wrong time in his life. Maybe he'd have made it in the 70s. Maybe it'd have made it like and it may, you know, when he was at the height of his powers, let's say, if he'd have made this after Apocalypse Now, and kept that kind of vibe and production value and style and all that kind of stuff that he had in Apocalypse Now, and apply that to megalopolis. That's what I imagine he envisaged in his head at the time. But just times have moved on, he's changed as a filmmaker. You know, lots of different factors. He doesn't have the same collaborators. Doesn't have Vittorio Storaro. He doesn't have Dean tavalari, who is his production designer. You know, all these kind of key creative collaborators, they're no longer part of his team. And so I think also it makes you realize how important those you know, like saying that the the look of the film wasn't that great and the costume design wasn't that great. Well, those aren't the people he worked with in the 70s. So I suspect that's also a part of it. Yeah, I think that's a huge part of it. But also, I think just if you're working and working on an idea for that long, because that first script was 1984 then 1989 he cut a deal with Cindy tutor, that film studio in Italy, thinking, I'm going to turn my back on Hollywood and make this film outside of that system. But he was still so much in debt that he basically was forced at that point to make Godfather three. So yet again, this project was shelved. It kept being shelved. And then when he finally started get, getting going on it, and started even capturing some second unit footage that was right before 911 and when that hit, of course, it was not the moment to make a film about New York being destroyed, because there is this moment in the film which it's I got the impression of her talking about it. It was a bigger idea earlier on, but that something would drop, and something drops onto New York, it destroys it Russian satellite that's called Carthage. Oh yeah, that was so of another era as well. And obviously that combined with kind of the story being a bit about like changing, like having a revolution and uprising, and, you know, it's just wasn't the moment to be making this kind of film, so it was kind of shelved again. But I think if you're shelving things, but you're continuing to work on them and work on them, you're so into the story that you'll forget which parts need to remain to make it the whole thing work as a whole, like I got this feeling like there was probably a coherent story at some point, but because he keeps working on it, he's cut lots of bits out, added new bits in. And so this doesn't really all hang together, and it's not clear anymore, because he knows the story so well that he's trying to tell but we've been left behind because we haven't been on this journey with him for the last 40 years, and then, and then, on top of that, he's letting actors improvise wildly, apparently, so, which I don't think is his, like, I don't know it's good, but I'm not sure that's his thing. Have you ever what? Have you ever watched the behind the scenes making up documentaries about Dracula? Francis four copper is Dracula because there you obviously want to watch that you Oh, my God. It's my favorite behind the scenes of documentary ever. It's so even more than hearts of darkness. Oh yeah, just for pure entertainment value, hearts of darkness is a much better film, don't get me wrong. But just if you want to have a hoot, put that on, because you you will see him. You do. You will see him working with actors and improvising with actors and all that kind of stuff. You'll, you'll see the process. And then, like, there's interviews with Keanu Reeves and, I think Winona Ryder, and they're, you know, it's just got, it's just very entertaining. So it probably will fill you in a bit of what that, what that must have been like on the set of megalopolis, because, because there was something he made in 2015 where he basically, because one of his next films, he wants to make it Rick film it as live, and he's already rehearsed it in 2015 and it was, like presented as, like, one seven hour play or something. There was, it's just like, this is his next, because he's not finished with megalopolis. He's got two of the films planned. Okay, well, that was, yeah, that great. You brought brought me to the my final pressing point was, I wanted to ask you, what do you think's next for France? For Coppola, there are gonna be two more megalopolis films. One of them's gonna be a bit more. One of them nothing to do with the megalopolis cinematic universe. That's a one and done. Okay, I was gonna say, because I don't know where you. I mean, hey, look, he self funded this one, and we all he's self funding the other ones as well, too. He's like, I think he's busy cashing all his chips, and I from his wife, apparently it's all from his winery holdings. He's doing so well that couple of vino. Yeah, absolutely, he sold him because I think he's worth he's got a 300 and something million dollar stake. Or his shares are worth that much. So he sold $100 million of them to get the money to make megalopolis, but yeah, he's planning on funding another two. It's like, he's, he's putting his money where his mouth is talking all the talk about being a filmmaker and making important films, like, yeah, maybe they're not working, but like, Jesus Christ, he's like, he just spent 100 million on megalopolis, and he's not stopping. Yeah, that yeah, I wanted to flag that $120 million budget, and so far, he's made 9 million back worldwide. But yeah, if you're that old and you're that rich, all your chips in why not? But also, I was thinking a positive spin on these box office figures. Is I looked at the box office figures for one from the heart, and looked at the adjusted for inflation. So adjusted for inflation, one from the heart made, uh, $2.8 million so it's done better than one from the heart, adjusted even adjusted for inflation. But what is, what was the budget? Oh, the rate? No, no, no, no, yeah, of course, of course. I mean, one from the heart cost a lot. It was like 25 million back in 82 but I mean, even, let's say double it or double, triple it, even, the ratio isn't good, but hate made more from one for the heart, just the figures, okay, yeah, well, that that's just, I'm just trying to help him. The thing is, I honestly think that it's a shame he had such a big budget, because I don't, I don't think that suits him. The CGI is really bad, right? That final scene where David, David, no, Adam Driver, Catalina is making that weird speech at the end, which means fuck all and has no meaning. But anyway, that the way it was, flicking between sleagi figures in the background, in the in the distance, and then close ups of children behind fencing. Like, what was that so terrible? And I think it could have been better if he'd have had a slightest form of budget, and he had to do it a little like a more in camera, you know? Yeah, absolutely. Like I was thinking this, like Robert Eggers is a filmmaker, think of who, with very, very tiny budgets, makes things look beautifully crafted, really cinematic, really gonna, you know, they look very expensive, but he does them very lean. And this is $100 million movie that looks like a ten million movie, and that's been generally like you can see where, so you can see where some of the money went. But I think it was just inefficient use of money. It feels like a, you know, everybody the catering was probably nice, and if, with all the improvisation, it sounds like nobody was rushed in the schedule. You know, yeah, he's just, he's clearly a man who, like, I don't think he can't be budgeted, you know. Well, I mean, his money, it's his money. So if, yeah, but you would think, with his own money. He might be a bit more conscientious about it, but no, no. I mean, and he bought, he built that hotel that is now where you can now stay in the hotel that is all the post production from megalopolis on, I think I sent you a link. Oh, my God, wait, yeah, that was built for megalopovis. Yeah, that's what I was trying to say to you. I didn't realize he had to put it. So basically, sorry, I thought you were just like, this isn't this cool. This is a film hotel where you can go and, like, edit your films and do posts. No, I didn't. I didn't explain it exactly. That's it. He built a facility so that he had his own place to stay and all the post production facilities. But being an entrepreneur, he knew that they could then flip it into a hotel, but also still use the post production facilities, hire those out. So it's like, come and stay here, and you might see a film being made. You might, you might see my next follow up to megalopolis being made. Okay, I get why you were keen for us to visit. Because I was like, but, but, James, it's a cool idea, but it's very ugly looking like it's not necessarily, not very pleasing, and fits with Megalo, right? Yeah. My main thing I just, I just have to come back to, like the concept, the meaning of this film, the ideas that he's wrestling with, because I find it, I find it so sort of devastating that, like it's, it's like this film thinks it's about one thing, but it's really about another. Like this film tries to present itself about being about a man who's helping the masses have a better life, right? The whole idea is that megalopovis is a utopian city that Adam driver's character wants to create for the whole of New York and for all the like little people, essentially, but very much the little people vibes attitude comes through in this film. Because really, what the film actually is about is a man who two men who have huge egos, who both think that they're so important and every everyone should. Just follow what they what they want. They're not getting on so well, but ultimately they figure it out in the end, because, because one of them's shagging the other one's daughter, it's just a story about Nepo babies getting together and powerful families connecting, and also about reinstating the hierarchy, because the end of the film is just like, Yep, all the same people are still in power, and all those people who, at one moment we see Shia labeou Trying to help rise up that kind of Trumpian style and take over the city they're kept in that place. And it's weird because I don't think that's what Franco cobbler wanted to say at all. Like, I believe he thinks, in his heart He's a lefty kind of a guy who believes in freedom, but really, all he believes then is doing what he wants. And he's, I feel like he's so disconnected to, like, normal people that, like, oh yeah, even begin to, like, flesh out a properly, like, philosophical message in a movie that is meant to be about that. And it's so annoying and unsatisfying. Yeah, yeah. I mean that that is absolutely true. I mean, you know, this is a guy who, in the 70s, just had the most incredible run, I think, of any modern American filmmaker. So, yeah, you know, I guess that changes a guy and then like, like, say, I always think his reach exceeds his ability. Like he wants to be a deep thinker, he looks to the past of cinema history, and he kind of managed to nail it in the 70s, but just ever since then, he's just not quite got it. And yeah, like, I say, I just, I was, I enjoyed it as, like, a fun it's like the art house version of, like the room. I kind of like, it's more like a Yeah, you know. So I enjoyed myself more than I thought I would. I thought I'd hate it, and I definitely don't hate it at all, you know. And like, say, in fleeting moments, I just thought, Okay, that's a decent thing here, but overall, cheap looking, just just, just a mess, a total mess. But it's certainly not a recommendation for me. But I had an I had quite all right time at the cinema. I enjoyed it. You know, it was certainly it was, it was something. I had a ball. I had a ball. I had such a good time watching it because I was just so confused about how it was so bombastically bad when, okay, yes, Francophone Coppola made one from the heart. And that does have a very strange there is something totally quite similar there. Both these films are, like, big and theatrical and shiny and glittery. He does like a bit of like sparkle, I think. And both tonally are all over the place, but, but he, you know, but he's also made, has made, like, two of my favorite films. Like, he makes really good films. Yeah, he has done so it's just, like, amazing to watch something which is so such a departure from that, yeah, and it being such a like, I was entertained by it, even though it was like, and I don't think that's what he how he wanted me to feel about it, but you're right. You're right. I think there's definitely something about him, especially, maybe at this point in his career, like reaching further than he can achieve. I think you're right. I mean, obviously you've talked before about Tarantino's whole concept of I'm gonna make. Was it nine films, 10 films, done 10 and done to protect his legacy and and that's that was deliberate, a deliberate choice of him looking to the previous directors like Hitchcock and Kira Kurosawa. And he, in his mind, the quality declining, arguably, in the later years, he just, I'm not going to let that happen. So having a deliberate plan, yeah, and I can sort of see, see that, but, but, having said that, I don't want him to stop. Like, I don't think these filmmakers should stop. I don't believe I think, fuck legacy. I don't I think, I think, when you think of France for Coppola, or you think of as the Godfather and pockets, now, people don't really remember one from the heart, unless you're a real movie person. Yeah, people just remember them for their hits, especially I think male directors do not, do not have to pay. I mean, maybe Francis for copper has paid finance. He did. He kind of quite literally, like got himself into in almost insurmountable debt in 82 but, yes, yeah, but his legacy is preserved. And I think at this point, babe, you do you, you keep having fun with these crazy films. I love that I will keep seeing them. And like, say, maybe it doesn't, maybe it won't give him the, well, he hasn't got the pristine legacy that credit Tarantino is decided upon, but it still makes an interesting legacy. Like, you know, the later films of Hitchcock aren't great Hitchcock films at all, but they're still interesting to see what he's doing in his later career. And yeah, one of them, I can't quite watch the very last one, but they still, they still make an interesting legacy. You know, it's good, you know, it's not a bad thing to have had this incredible run in the late 60s, 70s. Because no, hardly anybody on the planet has anything like that at all. So the fact that he had that like say he's that legacy is always preserved, and then, at least he's in. Interesting that, you know, you had this thing where he had to pay the bill for a decade, and then he kind of, didn't, he built his wine business, and then he came back in 2007 with his digital film era, which, you know, we're, we're still in now, this is, like, say, this is the, this is the Avengers end game, the kind of, this is the megalopolis was, like the ultimate of his kind of comeback movies. But he claims that his final film, which whose name I've forgotten, but he claims it's going to be even more ambitious than megalopolis Lily. You got that? What does that even mean? How could it be okay? Well, I can't I really can't wait. I just think that, on the one hand, okay, maybe there is an argument that money should be invested in new, fresh talent, new ideas, from people who don't have a winery worth hundreds of millions of pounds to help fund their work. But I do like as well seeing the human creative trajectory like it's cool, like you said, he has had a very interesting career, but it's also just interesting. You know, people have never lived as long as they've lived today. And also Francisville COVID, really, he's not that much younger than cinema itself. So, yeah, this is like to see these filmmakers in that older age making movies you know Scorsese as well. Because, I mean, it's interesting to see where you as a human being, where your creative mind goes when you enter these different phases of your life. So I really don't want him to stop. I don't think there's anything wrong with him making these movies, even if they're not, like, objectively Very good. Yeah, that was my feeling after watching it. I was like, you know, I'm glad he made it, but, you know, I wish It'd have been better. Of course, we all do. But like, you know, I certainly, I thought I would hate I thought I would be more annoyed with it, and I wasn't. I was like, oh, you know what, this is, just like, he's swinging a miss. He's trying to do something. But yeah, I was kind of had a good time. Well, we can look forward to his next, next Okay. Well, on that note, thank you guys for listening to this special bonus episode of greedy movies. I'm glad you couldn't, I'm glad you couldn't resist, uh, recording this one Lily. It was, uh, it was a pleasure I could. It was just too major to wait, you know. And guys, please do go see this film if you want. Like, it's so worth it, and it's actually, it's only two hours and 20 minutes, which, for Fast Forward film was actually quite good. I was very relieved to see it wasn't going into the quite getting too close to the three hour territory. Yes. Very, very relieved. Yeah. So thank you guys so much, and we'll be back in your ears very shortly. And if you can leave us a like or a review. It all helps get the podcast out to a bigger audience. All right, see you soon. Guys, bye, bye. Follow us on Instagram at groovy movies pod, or email us. Groovy moviespod@gmail.com groovy movies was produced and edited by Lily Austin, music and sound by James rousted. Our logo was designed by Abby Joe Sheldon for references and more information about the films discussed. Check out the show notes you.