Francis Ford Coppola and Jon Voight get political about 'Megalopolis'

“I had no idea that the politics of the day would make this such a big deal to represent a Roman epic set in modern America,” Francis Ford Coppola said Friday at Cannes of the $120 million epic that took 40 years in production. “. Major cities.

The film follows New Rome, an allegory for New York City, as Adam Driver’s architect, Cesare Catilina, competes with the declining status quo mayor Franklin Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito) as well as radical rebel Claudio Pulcher (Shia LaBeouf) in the film. Hopes to build a utopian society.

“What is happening in America, in our republic, in our democracy is exactly how Rome lost its republic thousands of years ago.” The Godfather The director said during a press conference for the film after its world premiere at Cannes on Thursday evening.

“Our politics have brought us to the point where we may lose the republic, and so it will not be people who become politicians who will be the answer, but America’s artists.”

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“The role of the artist is to illuminate contemporary life, to shed light on it, to be the lamp. Therefore, making art that does not illuminate contemporary life is like making a hamburger that you eat without any nutrition, which is also the case.

Coppola was asked how afraid he is of the future, especially politicians like former US President Donald Trump.

“Men like Donald Trump are not in charge right now,” Coppola stressed, “but there is a trend happening in the world… There is a trend toward a more new right-wing division, even fascism, which is scary.” Everyone who was alive during World War II saw the horrors that occurred, and we do not want that to happen again. Again, I think the role of film artists is to highlight what’s going on in the world.

Then Coppola pulled his Major cities Actor Jon Voight, known for his conservative views, entered the conversation. “John, you have different political views than me…”

“One of the things I can say about our amazing cast is that they reflect all kinds of political ideas,” Coppola said.

Voight has spoken out on Trump’s behalf, and in a recently released video, he defended Trump, saying he was being “ridiculed” and “destroyed like Jesus.” Voight also said that Trump “was targeted because of his information that could demolish the corrupt swamp” and is “the only man who can destroy the negative propaganda that has been sworn into this office.”

However, today on the Cannes World Stage, Voight kept his remarks mostly apolitical, telling Coppola that the director’s focus “is on creating a better world.”

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Voight continued: “Where are we going? I think we’re all at this moment asking ourselves that question. Where are we going and what can we do? I’m a little older now – some of you may have noticed – and I have a limited amount of time. And I’m thinking about… Myself, what can I do to encourage us towards a better world to protect these children? This is exactly what I do, it’s on my mind every second of the day to see what we can do to make this world better. I know it’s possible.

“I agree with this movie, and Francis’s view that humans can solve every problem we get ourselves into. We can do it; that’s what Adam says in the final moments of the movie. We can do it. We should stick together, we should help each other,” he said. And we have to listen to each other, and we have to take this and make a better world. We have been through a lot, we have experience, we have to do our best, and we have to do our best to appreciate these people who are coming out and trying to show us the way a little bit.

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Voight said he was familiar with Coppola Major cities An idea for 25 years.

said the Oscar winner Go home “It was a vision that bothered him to express, and he had to do it.”