"Do you know why I'm doing this movie? What do I get out of it? an exasperated Francis Ford Coppola asks Shia LaBeouf on the set of Megalopolis. I don't get money. I don't get fame; I already have fame. I don't get Oscars, I already have Oscars. What do I get that I want? LaBeouf eventually gives up. Fun! Coppola says. I wanna have fun!"
"Making Megalopolis doesn't look like most people's idea of fun as Coppola attempts to corral actors, crew, costumes, locations, lavish sets and special effects all in service of a sprawling sci-fi-meets-ancient-Rome story that no one fully understands. Throw in the fact that the film-maker spent $120m of his own money on the passion project by selling off part of his winemaking business to raise funds,"
"I have a huge problem with the way documentaries are shot now; they're shot like bad B-movies, says Figgis, just before Megadoc's premiere at the Venice film festival. I know from my own experience that in order to get funding for a documentary, you have to kind of submit a script, which seems to me the antithesis of what a documentary should be;"
Francis Ford Coppola attempts to mount Megalopolis, a sprawling sci-fi-meets-ancient-Rome project, while managing actors, crew, costumes, locations, lavish sets and special effects. Coppola sold part of his winemaking business and spent $120m of his own money after nearly 50 years of trying to get the film made. The production faced delays, technical problems and interpersonal bust-ups, testing the energy of an 83-year-old director. Mike Figgis filmed the set for Megadoc, capturing raw, intimate moments that echo the chaos of Apocalypse Now while showcasing Figgis's intuitive, self-effacing observational approach. Figgis criticizes modern documentary funding requirements that demand pre-submitted scripts.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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