Francis Ford Coppola’s 2024 drama, one which he had been working on for many decades, Megalopolis, is surely a divisive film that can often seem bland beyond the visual spectacles that it successfully presents. Set in the fictional city of New Rome, the film is Coppola’s personal take on the Catilinarian conspiracy in ancient Rome, with numerous modern concepts and ideas incorporated into it. The story follows Cesar Catilina, a masterful architect in this futuristic world, who has to face a slew of challenges while attempting to build his revolutionary and marvelous new utopian housing society, which supposedly has the potential to take human civilization to the next evolutionary level. Overall, Megalopolis will definitely not be to everyone’s liking, but its grand scale and the pedigree of Coppola as a filmmaker make it worth a watch at least.
Spoiler Alert
What is the film about?
Megalopolis begins in the city of New Rome, an alternate and futuristic version of New York City, where a man is seen climbing out of the highest window of a tall skyscraper before he walks over to the edge and attempts to jump. However, just as he steps out into the void, the man shouts out an order for time to stop, and everything around, including the laws of physics, comes to a halt. The man, Cesar Catilina, then takes a step back and unfreezes time, bringing normalcy back to the world, and also canceling what seemed to have been a half-hearted attempt at suicide. Cesar is an architect by profession and is a renowned figure for his artistic work under his company, named Design Authority, which works in close coordination with the government in designing skyscrapers in the city. His popularity has only grown in recent times, following his invention of a revolutionary building material named Megalon, which could not just be the answer to problems related to construction work but instrumental in the advancement of human civilization as a whole.
Despite Cesar Catilina’s popularity among the citizens, the current mayor of New Rome, Franklyn Cicero, does not like the man at all, and finds him rather wasteful. Cicero believes in the welfare of his citizens and wants to provide the bare minimum amenities for everyone, which in itself is a struggle in this futuristic world, where the divide between the haves and the have nots is astonishingly big. Therefore, when talks about using a vast expanse of land in the city for the development of some property are being held, Cicero proposes that a fancy casino be built by the administration. His claim is that the casino will start to bring in a lot of revenue that can be used for the benefit of the citizens. However, at this very publicized event, Cesar directly opposes the mayor’s views and proposes the construction of a novel utopian housing society named Megalopolis, which he claims would be the next step in the advancement of New Rome and human civilization.
Thus, an already fierce rivalry between the two men takes an even worse shape as Cicero tries to halt Cesar’s architectural plans, even dragging an old legal case into the matter, in which Cicero, the District Attorney at the time, blamed Cesar for having murdered his own wife. The relationship turns more bitter when Cicero learns that his daughter, Julia, has taken up a job as an assistant in the architect’s firm. As Cesar and Cicero pursue their visions of shaping New Rome’s future, other serious developments soon threaten the social fabric of the city.
What is the main conflict in the film about?
At its core, Megalopolis is a story about the conflict between art and necessity, between established conventions and pioneering ideas, told through two characters representing each side of the scale. Mayor Franklyn Cicero is a man of purpose and strict action, or at least he believes himself to be so, and is always determined to ensure that the citizens get the best facilities. But in a rather ironic manner, the mayor is absolutely hated by most of the masses, and people are increasingly turning against him with every passing day. This is because Cicero has failed as a leader, unable to save the city’s economy from catastrophic failure, which, in turn, has been leaving the poor even more helpless. Such has been Cicero’s inability to deal with the financial troubles of the city that he has to fully depend on a federal bailout for the administration to survive.
In fact, cash injections from private sources to government institutions and other administrative bodies seem to be a common occurrence in New Rome, which is why the patrician families running the industries live their lives in a manner unthinkable to the common masses. Like most countries of our modern world, rich industrialists and corporations are taking over control of governments and administration in indirect ways in this fictional nation as well. This situation had led to Mayor Cicero pleading for the 10th Amendment to be invoked on short notice, looking for ways to get cash injected into the system and improving the conditions for his citizens in any way possible. Despite his declining popularity, Cicero is still determined to fight for his people’s well-being and therefore wants to build the casino to earn enough revenue the city could use to provide for the basic necessities.
To Cicero, the very nature of someone like Cesar Catilina is detestable, as the architect actually hails from an extremely rich and influential patrician family. Cesar’s uncle, Hamilton Crassus III, is one of the richest men in the world, with his fortune based on a generational banking business. Cesar surely has never had to worry about finances or money getting in the way of his inventions or creative genius, and so he does not exactly understand what the mayor feels about the current situation. Unlike Cicero, Cesar is all about innovations and inventions, and anyone trying to stop such practice of art is beneath his stature. Gradually, he makes attempts to make Cicero understand his stance regarding the situation and his desire to build Megalopolis, but the mayor is equally adamant about his beliefs and opinions.
While the conflict between Cesar and Cicero can be seen as an archetypal feud between tradition and modernity, there could also be other ways of looking at it. To the mayor, art is something that can be practiced only when one does not have to bother about their basic needs and amenities. Cesar, however, firmly feels that art itself can make life better by easing the struggles of everyday existence. In this sense, the architect does not even want to be a part of the archetypal feud, for he believes that his work will help the people of New Rome too, just like Cicero wants to, but it’s almost like he’s forced into this feud. Given the difficulties that Francis Ford Coppola had with producers while making Megalopolis, this conflict can even be seen as a symbolic representation of his artistic prowess being restricted and bound by the ‘necessities’ of business. In fact, the situation can be interpreted as any artist trying to launch their work in front of the world, wholeheartedly believing that it will surely play an important role in society, but being turned down by investors or patrons because they do not agree on the means to achieve the goal, despite their goals being aligned.
How does greed play an important part in the story?
Greed is one of the most important elements in the story of Megalopolis, as the desire for power, position, and love threaten the very nature of New Rome while Cesar and Cicero indulge in their clash of opinions. It is Cesar’s cousin, Clodio Pulcher, who is the biggest embodiment of jealousy and greed in Megalopolis, as he is envious of the protagonist’s skill and also his current position in life. Clodio does not seem interested in making a name for himself or in being of help to other people, both of which are the biggest qualities of Cesar, but he loses his calm when the architect gets romantically involved with Julia. Clodio is seen trying to woo Julia at the very beginning of the film, meaning that he is attracted to the woman and wants to be with her at all costs. Julia very easily saw through the superficiality of the young man and so turned down his advances. Despite initially being against the principles and beliefs of Cesar as well, Julia actually falls in love with him after starting to work at his firm, and this naturally becomes a matter of great envy for Clodio.
It is Clodio who prepares a fake video of Cesar getting intimate with Vesta Sweetwater, one of the vestal virgins held in high regard for their purity and chastity, and has it streamed during Crassus’ marriage. His plan is to not just slander the image of Cesar but also get him arrested, since the vestal virgins are supposed to be minors, and so the protagonist does get picked up by the police on charges of statutory rape. However, Julia is able to save the day for him in this instance, as she finds documents to prove that Sweetwater has been lying about her age and is actually an adult. Although the fact that the video had been doctored is also revealed to the people, nobody tries to get to the bottom of the matter and identify the perpetrator. A significant event then changes the course of politics in New Rome as a Soviet satellite seemingly crashes to Earth, causing massive damage to the city. But despite all this destruction and despair, Cesar remains determined to complete the construction of Megalopolis and open it up for the people.
Clodio quite naturally takes this as an opportunity to create a negative sentiment against his cousin and rally the people against Cesar, which works out temporarily. Angry crowds take to the streets to protest against Cesar and his construction project, and another character with similar interests as Clodio now takes charge. The TV presenter, Wow Platinum, had been a mistress of Cesar, but she’d always wanted him to acknowledge her presence in his life publicly. As the protagonist never did so, Platinum married his uncle, Caesar III, simply because of the man’s wealth and influence. Therefore, when the right time comes, Platinum threatens to cut off Cesar from his uncle’s bank and his will unless he leaves Julia and marries her, since Crassus’ old age leads to the woman taking over control of the business. But as Cesar refuses to accept her demands once again, Platinum gets together with Clodio, romantically as well, and draws up an elaborate plan to bring down Cesar.
Interestingly, Crassus himself is also tremendously greedy, except his desire is not for wealth, which he already has, but for the respect of people and honor among them. For a significant duration of the film, Crassus actually wants Clodio to be his successor in the business, and he tries to mentor the wastrel young man into becoming sharp enough to run the bank.
However, during Megalopolis’ ending, Crassus chooses to leave all his wealth and property to Cesar simply because the latter now gains popularity among the masses, and so supporting Cesar would also have Crassus remembered as a good man. It is heavily suggested that everyone in the patrician family in focus is extremely greedy, in one way or another, and perhaps Cesar is the only exception.
What does the film’s ending signify?
During Megalopolis’ ending, Cicero ultimately changes his mind and decides to support Cesar, publicly supporting him and his endeavors. While this shift might seem a bit too sudden, the reason for Cicero’s change of opinions is actually his daughter, as he realizes that the architect genuinely loves Julia. When he understands that he can no longer ask Julia to stay away from Cesar, Cicero himself approaches the protagonist and offers him a truce. He admits that the murder case against him was based on fake and made-up charges, and so Cicero offers to publicly admit this fact and cleanse Cesar’s image in exchange for the promise that he will leave Julia. However, Cesar turns down the offer and proves that Julia is more important to him than what people think of him. Julia also becomes pregnant with Cesar’s child soon after, and this ultimately makes Cicero support the couple.
Everything works out in favor of Cesar by the end, and he opens up Megalopolis to the public, also proving that his intention was never to earn profits from the project but simply to create innovative art. Cicero is also convinced that the architect will work nobly for the benefit of the people from here on, and so he gives his complete support to Cesar. Crassus also realizes the plot in the works against him, and he kills his wife and gravely injures Clodio. Ultimately, the angry mobs also realize how Clodio had been trying to use them, and they turn against him and kill him.
In Megalopolis’ ending, Cesar and Julia are seen stopping time together, but unlike earlier, they also freeze along with time, while their infant daughter, Sunny Hope, is the only one unaffected. The ability to freeze time had been shown as an artistic prowess throughout the film, which only Cesar possessed till one point. Julia being able to do the same perhaps signifies that she is also equally talented in life, even though she is unable to find any channel to express it, and perhaps her greatest skill is her ability to love the protagonist. Thus, Sunny Hope is a literal product of these two characters, and it is almost certain that she too will be able to stop time. But the fact that she is the only one unaffected any more is a symbolic nod to the idea that the world, both the fictional one in the film and our very real one, survives only on hope. The hope is for the next generations, the younger ones to come, to take up responsibility and protect the world, nature, society, and every facet of life. This idea is further pushed by the voices of children reading out the new pledge at the very end of the film, swearing to protect the world and all species living on it.
