A pretentious and abstruse mixture” ( Télérama ). “A bloated opera and it pains us to write it” ( Le Nouvel Obs ). “The adventure of a life that turns into disaster” ( Vanity Fair ) . A last ? “We sleep standing up” ( Le Figaro ). We could go on like this for a long time: regarding Megalopolis , the monster film by Francis Ford Coppola presented on Thursday May 16 at the 77th Cannes Film Festival , the critics outdid themselves and went all out. In general, even when your name is Coppla, you are the author of Secret Conversation , The Godfather I and II , Apocalypse Now or even Rusty James , you do not recover from this type of shooting in good standing. 4444444444444444
So obviously, the presence on Saturday evening of Francis Ford Coppola as an event guest in Quelle époque! , Léa Salamé 's successful talk show on France 2, in a live broadcast, was eagerly awaited. Was the host going to ask THE question that absolutely had to be asked? How has the director of The Godfather been sleeping for two days? Is he just sleeping? After moving feedback on a career as long as an arm, Léa Salamé made the job: “Francis Ford Coppola, there are those who loved it and found the film absolutely fascinating and visionary, but there are also those who harshly criticize the film. Have you read these reviews? Do they affect you or not? » Silence on set…
Chips and burgers
Far from dodging the question, but without addressing it head-on either, one of the last masters of cinema then launched in his own way into a deciphering of consumer society related to the 7th art: “When you eat a chips, do you know that people have spent millions of dollars on the dosage of salt, sugar…?, the director began by explaining. Not so that the chip tastes good, no, but so that you continue to eat many more. When you eat a burger from McDonald's, it's the same thing. They spend a lot of money. Not so that you have something nutritionally good, but so that you find a familiar taste. It’s exactly the same thing with films…”
The stage was set, the point had to be driven home: “When you go to see a film,” continues the director, “millions of dollars have been spent to teach you how to watch the film. From the first minute, we must see the hero. In the second minute, we have to see the bad guy. The idea is to consume a film, they want to make us consumers. It is to their advantage. So if you come up with a film that doesn't conform to this formula, people will say it's not a good film. Because they wait for what they were taught to wait for..."
Before concluding, martial and definitive, by summoning the algorithms of the net economy in his reasoning: “Think for yourself. Advertising is there to define you as a person. A long time ago, when you were a potter, you were known and recognized for that: a potter. Today you are known for what you consume. All this is to better control us. »
So much for the word given to the defense. There remains the film, signed by one of the greatest geniuses of cinema, Megalopolis . To see urgently in theaters to form your own idea. Or not…
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