On May 17, local time, Francis Ford Coppola's much-anticipated new work "megalopolis" held a media meeting in Cannes. Just the day before, this shortlisted film in the main competition section of the Cannes Film Festival had its world premiere. Although it received seven or eight minutes of applause from the audience, the immediate media response was not praise, but praise. There is obvious polarization, which makes people feel worried for the veteran director who raised his own funds to shoot the film.
On May 17, 2024, local time, France, the 77th Cannes Film Festival, the indoor press conference of the movie "Metropolis". What's even more unfavorable about Visual China Picture
is that on May 14, not long before the premiere of "Metropolis", the British "Guardian" published an exclusive article, ruthlessly revealing various conditions on the filming set of the film. Secrets, and cited the testimonies of many unnamed crew members, emphasizing that "a lot of time and energy was wasted" during the production of the film, the script "was rewritten at least 300 times", and "most of the visuals were lost halfway through the filming Staff on the special effects and art teams have been fired or resigned themselves," etc.
The "Guardian" report also quoted an anonymous crew member as saying, "He often just sits there for hours on end, not talking to anyone, just smoking marijuana... Everyone has to wait, and the hours pass. , and nothing was shot. Sometimes, the crew and actors are waiting, and then suddenly he will come up with an idea that makes no sense and has nothing to do with what is in the script. It may sound crazy. But sometimes we all really wonder, 'Has this guy ever made a movie before? '"
Compared with these purely technical revelations, the more fatal revelations in the "Guardian" article are those that are vaguely hinted at." Issues between Men and Women.” Reporters cited eyewitness accounts and revealed that Coppola once tried to forcefully kiss an extra on the set, and also encouraged a female extra to sit directly on his lap.
Director Francis Ford Coppola at the film conference. The article Visual China Picture
was published in the newspaper at a time when the anti-sexual assault movement in the French film industry was resurging, and Hollywood is now extremely sensitive to such incidents involving sexual harassment. The Guardian's explosive article undoubtedly pushed Metropolis, which had not yet found a North American publisher, further into desperation.
Regarding the sensitive accusations, Darren Demeter, the co-producer of "Metropolis" responded immediately. He admitted that Coppola sometimes did this to help the extras find inspiration for their performances, and that doing so would also harmonize the atmosphere of the scene. But he also emphasized that no one complained to him about the director's behavior during the entire filming period.
Originally, the outside world expected that some journalists attending the Cannes conference would question Coppola about this matter, but the situation on the scene was unexpectedly harmonious and calm. All media basically asked questions about the film itself, and no one mentioned the conditions of the filming scene at all. It gave the old director a great deal of face. At the press conference, which was delayed for half an hour for some reason, the 85-year-old Coppola said from the beginning that the applause from the audience after the premiere made him feel "relieved and extremely happy."
According to his own statement, the idea for the film was born as early as 1977, and he began to prepare the script in 1983. The project was officially launched in 2001, but was later shelved due to various reasons. In 2019, he restarted the "Metropolis" project and completed the filming of the film with US$120 million of his own money by selling his shares in the Igonot Winery.
In response to this, some media reporters yesterday asked "unintentionally" whether the director's cost-regardless approach would seriously shrink his property and regress his living standards; the reporter even further hinted whether this would affect his daughter Sophia. The future inheritance rights of Coppola and his son Roman Coppola and other family members.
In response to this rather philistine question, Coppola answered frankly: "I have no financial problems, and my children also have good careers, so they don't need me to leave them any wealth. I am still Yi Ge. All of us at Chateau Noau, all in all, we are all doing well.I want to tell everyone here that money is not important, friends are important. Friends will never let you down, but money will disappear. "
However, the real problem is indeed there. At present, "Metropolis" has not found a film distributor willing to take over. Earlier, the media revealed that Coppola's expected selling price was about 100 million U.S. dollars, but this year After the film industry screening held at the end of March, the feedback received was very cold, and no one was willing to bid for it.
"Metropolis" stills
In response to this situation, Coppola said yesterday, "Hollywood's traditional film production. Most of the studios are currently heavily in debt. If I continue to work for them, they are not asking you to make movies so much as asking you to help them repay their debts. "According to him, only "well-funded" technology companies such as Apple, Amazon and Microsoft are the future of Hollywood. The implication is that he probably hopes that "Metropolis" can obtain transaction opportunities from these upstarts in the industry.
As for the future of those traditional film manufacturers, Coppola is very optimistic and criticizes them for only knowing the status quo and repeating the production of sequels. In fact, this has become an important reason why he must raise funds to shoot "Metropolis". "When I was young, I remember wanting to make a musical," Coppola recalled, "but someone told me, 'You know, no one makes musicals anymore. ’ Later, I wanted to make a Western, but someone told me, ‘No one really makes Westerns anymore. ’ In the end, the screenwriter and I worked together to write what I thought was a great Western script that no one wanted to make. Everyone said they weren't doing Westerns anymore, so I lost the opportunity. But luckily, Clint Eastwood bought the script and made it into "Unforgiven ". So, I really don’t understand why some movies can be made and some movies can’t be made? This time I tried to shoot "Metropolis" in my own way. "
"Metropolis" tells a science fiction story that takes place in the United States in the future. In short, it is a tit-for-tat confrontation between idealistic artists and delusional dictatorial politicians. When answering questions from the media, Coppola also He said that he is worried about the current political environment in the United States, but in his opinion, “The answer lies not with politicians, but with American artists. My dream and hope is that our country’s artists can give everyone some inspiration. I have always remembered what Joseph Papp (the late famous American theater director) told me: The role that artists have to play is to bring some enlightenment to everyone's current life. I believe all artists should do this. Otherwise, what the artist creates is like a nutritious hamburger, junk food. "
"Metropolis" stills
At the end of the interview, the old director who recently lost his beloved wife also made a summary of his life in response to the reporter's inquiry. "When many people die, they will be filled with emotions and regret themselves. There was something that was not done in the past. But when I die, I can proudly say that I have done everything I want to do, I have seen my daughter win an Oscar, and all the movies I want to make have been made. Got it! "
Coppola's concluding speech with no regrets in this life attracted thunderous applause from the reporters at the scene. Speaking of which, the last time Coppola was shortlisted for the main competition in Cannes was 45 years ago. At that time, " Apocalypse Now "The filming also encountered various problems, and the budget continued to expand, forcing Coppola to mortgage his private home and car to make up for the cost overrun. During the filming of the film, Harvey Keitel, the original star, was killed just a few days after the filming started. He was fired, and his replacement, Martin Sheen, nearly died of a heart attack on set. Later, the crew encountered a strong typhoon, and almost all the sets were destroyed. The original shooting time of 6 weeks was extended to 16 months.
In the end, he took the unfinished film with him. "Apocalypse Now" came to Cannes, and the media meeting was far bigger and more exciting than this time.As many as 2,000 people crowded into the interview site. In addition to publicly saying ""Apocalypse Now" is not a movie, "Apocalypse Now" has nothing to do with Vietnam, because it is Vietnam," Coppola also told the American media lashed out in response to their various negative reports on Apocalypse Now. "American journalism is the most decadent, unethical, lying industry you can come across. I learned that by working on Apocalypse Now. For four years, not a single story about it was true. ." At that time, Coppola's remarks drew boos from reporters at the scene. However, a few days later, "Apocalypse Now" came out on top and tied with "The Tin Drum" to win the Palme d'Or at Cannes, completely shutting up the American media.
This year, I wonder if this situation will happen again?
