Megalopolis

Um drama antigo passado em Nova Iorque futurista, com citações literárias dos clássicos e reflexões existenciais, ridiculamente incongruentes com o ambiente em que o filme se desenrola. Sexy por uma vez, engraçado por outra, mas o resto do filme é embaraçosamente foleiro ao ponto do pseudo-pós-modernismo kitsch na sua estética de mistura de estilos, completamente não comercializável para um público mais vasto. Cenas de multidão com uma dúzia de figurantes, fatos com motivos romanos antigos e cenas digitais como algo saído de uma fantasia televisiva para lares de terceira idade. Um motivo não explicado e subdesenvolvido de paragem no tempo e muitas outras ideias esboçadas que não levam a lado nenhum. Será possível que Coppola tenha considerado este o seu grande final, a obra em que deu o seu máximo? Tal como iniciou a sua carreira com uma longa cena de casamento em O Padrinho, enterra-a com um evento horrivelmente teatral para a elite de Megalopolis, como do fracasso enorme Calígula. De resto, Nathalie Emmanuel é linda, Aubrey Plaza é perigosamente sedutora e Shia LaBeouf é o melhor de todos. [Cannes FF] (19/05/2024)

Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis brings us to a futuristic, decadent and antiquely stylized New York, New Rome. I found this combination of ancient culture (clothes, names, entertainment) with a futuristic vision of the world very appealing, and the entire film is punctuated with quotes from ancient thinkers, which only underscore their timelessness in how they still apply to today. They highlight the absurdity of certain aspects of modern times, especially the fact that we are still the same people (animals) as in the days of ancient Rome, we are just playing at being a civilized and advanced society. This is portrayed brilliantly in the film, but that's probably the end of all the pros of this "masterpiece". I should also mention that although my favourite of the entire cast is Adam Driver (who was excellent as usual), the biggest praise should go to Shia LaBeouf, who once again shows something completely new, and proves that he can still surprise. Megalopolis had a lot of potential, a lot of great ideas that deserved to be fleshed out more. The huge disappointment for me was that the main character may have the power to stop time, but he doesn't make any use of it, I thought that would have been much more meaningful or impactful to the development of the film. As it is, the whole thing just comes across as a critique of society hoping for a brighter tomorrow, coupled with a simple family drama without much transcendence, which I find very insufficient. At the end of the film, I wondered if I had accidentally fallen asleep during the screening, that I must have missed something... Or maybe I just didn't understand the whole thing. [Festival de Cannes 2024] (21/05/2024)