Megalopolis: Francis Ford Coppola responds to critics who panned his film

«A pretentious and abstruse mixture» (Telerama). «A pompous work and it hurts us to write it» (Le Nouvel Obs). «Coppola's Megalopolis is a half-disaster» (Vanity Fair). Another? «You sleep standing up» (Le Figaro). We could go on forever: speaking of Megalopolisthe epic of Francis Ford Coppola presented at the 77th Festival of Cannes, the critics did not spare themselves and resorted to all their destructive arsenal. As a rule, even when your name is Coppola and you are the author of films like There conversation, The Godfather I And II, Apocalypse Now And Rusty the wildyou usually have a hard time recovering from attacks like this.

The presence of Francis Ford Coppola as a special guest on Saturday evening was therefore highly anticipated That erathe hit talk show of Léa Salamé live on France 2. Would the presenter ask THE question everyone was expecting? How the director of the Godfather in the last two days? But can she sleep? After some moving insights into an infinite career, Léa Salamé got to the heart of things: «Francis Ford Coppola, there are those who loved the film and found it absolutely fascinating and visionary, but there are also those who harshly criticize it. Has he read these reviews? Did they hit her or not?”. Silence in the studio…

Chips and burgers

Far from evading the question, but without even addressing it head on, one of the last masters of cinema has launched into his decoding of consumer society in relation to the seventh art. «When you eat a chip, do you know that millions of dollars have been spent on the dosage of salt, sugar…?», began the director. «This is not to make the chips taste better, but to encourage you to eat many more. When you eat a hamburger at McDonald's, it's the same thing. They spend a lot of money. Not to offer something good from a nutritional point of view, but so that you can find a familiar taste. With films it's exactly the same thing…”.

Once the painting has been prepared, here is the nail on which to hang it. «When you go to see a film», continued the director, «millions of dollars have already been spent on teaching how to watch it. In the first minute you have to see the hero. In the second, you have to see the villain. The idea is that the film must be consumed, they want to make us consumers. It's to their advantage. So if you offer a film that doesn't conform to this formula, people will say it's not a good film. Because everyone expects what they have been taught to expect…”

Then, martial and definitive, he moved on to the conclusion, recalling the algorithms of the net-economy in his argument: «Think for yourselves. Advertising is there to define you as a person. Long ago, when you were a potter, you were known and recognized for this: you were a potter. Today you are known for what you consume. Everything is used to control us better.”

The defense has spoken, indeed!. Then it stays Megalopolis, the film by one of cinema's greatest geniuses. Go and see it in theaters quickly to form your own opinion. Or maybe not.