Fifteen years the Festival has been waiting for its return. Francis Ford Coppola returns to the Croisette, Thursday May 16, to present, in competition, his new film, Megalopolis. His previous visit to Cannes dates back to 2009 with Tetro, a project of a much smaller scale than his new feature film, which brings together Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Dustin Hoffman, Shia LaBeouf and Laurence Fishburne. Follow our live stream.
A utopian science fiction film. The story is that of an architect, César Catilina, played by Adam Driver, who dreams of rebuilding a megalopolis that resembles New York, destroyed after a cataclysm. His utopian project clashes with that of the city’s mayor, Franklyn Cicero, played by Giancarlo Esposito. The councilor advocates a status quo “regressive, protective of greed, privilege and private militias”, says the official synopsis. In the middle of this duel is the mayor’s daughter, Julia Cicero, played by Nathalie Emmanuel, in love with César Catilina.
A crazy new project. The 85-year-old American director, who mortgaged part of his Californian vineyards to find the 150 million dollars (139 million euros) necessary to finance the film, is playing big with this project which has still not found a distributor in the USA. In Cannes, it benefits from a prestigious showcase. In the process, he could become the first director to win three Palmes d’Or, after those gleaned for Secret conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979).
The competition continues. After the presentation of the first two films in the running for the Palme d’Or, Rough diamondby Agathe Riedinger, and The young woman with the needleby Magnus von Horn, and before the event Megalopolisthe British Andrea Arnold presents Bird. This film with strong social dimensions follows the story of Bailey, 12, who lives with his brother and his father. As puberty approaches, while her father takes little care of her, the adolescent “go seek attention and adventure elsewhere”details the synopsis.