Megalopolis<\/a> is finally here.<\/p>\nAn idea the famed director of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now first hatched in 1977, it\u2019s a wildly ambitious look at power and avarice, comparing modern-day America to the structures of Ancient Rome.<\/p>\n
Adam Driver heads a starry cast, playing Cesar Catilina, an architect who fantasises about building an urban utopia \u2013 named Megalopolis. But to do so will mean facing off with many enemies who scheme to bring him down.<\/p>\n
Based in New Rome, his office centred in what looks suspiciously like New York\u2019s Chrysler Building, Catalina wants to make \u201ca city the people can dream about\u201d.<\/p>\n
His skills stretch beyond mere bricks and mortar. He has the ability to control time, while Megalopolis itself will be built from \u2018megalon\u2019, a unique substance that some believe is unsafe.<\/p>\n
At one point, a young Taylor Swift-like singer named Vesta Sweetwater (Grace VanderWaal) is wearing a dress made of this translucent, shimmery material. \u201cYou can see right through me,\u201d she wails. At times, Megalopolis itself feels just as elusive.<\/p>
Does Catalina have the nation\u2019s best interests at heart? He\u2019s \u201cthe guiltiest man unhanged\u201d, suggests Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Breaking Bad\u2019s Giancarlo Esposito), whose desirable daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel) has caught the architect\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n
Others who resent him include Clodio Pulcher (Shia LaBeouf), an extravagant and flamboyant figure who, at one point, is seen wearing a toga and gold platform stilettos. Then there\u2019s wealthy bank owner Hamilton Crassus III (Jon Voight), who is first seen being interviewed by the brilliantly-named Wow Platinum (Aubrey Plaza), a TV reporter and ruthless social climber.<\/p>\n
There is more than a flavour of Citizen Kane about Megalopolis, with Driver\u2019s character not unlike newspaper baron Charles Foster Kane in Orson Welles\u2019s masterpiece.<\/p>\n
Is it as good? No, but you can\u2019t fault Coppola for his fierce invention. At one point, the film daringly moves towards live interactive theatre. The screen narrows, focusing on Driver\u2019s face and, at the screening I attended, a spotlight in the auditorium came on and an actor arrived on stage, in front of the screen, with a microphone.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a bizarre but somewhat thrilling moment. Will this happen at every future showing? Maybe not, but its a bravura piece of showmanship.<\/p>\n