By FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA (19??)
Certainly one of the most famous unfilmed screenplays of all time, MEGALOPOLIS is Francis Ford Coppola’s longtime dream project. It came close to being filmed in 2001, and in late 2019 production was said to finally be moving forward (but I’ll believe that when I see it). This “Unspecified Draft” gives a good idea of Coppola’s outsized ambitions for the project, being a highly expansive 212 page science fiction-tinged epic that’s not like anything else. However, the fact remains that, in its present form at least, it needs work.
An early description of the near-future NYC setting provides an unsubtle indicator of the script’s orientation: “This is ROME of modern times.” Ancient Rome, to be exact, a time period Coppola references throughout, even identifying two of his protagonists as “Antony and Cleopatra” in the final pages.
It centers on Serge Catiline, an artist, scientist and director of the City Design Authority. Coppola buffs will notice a number of recognizable traits in a character who comes off as a cross between Preston Tucker and THE CONVERSATION’S Harry Caul, i.e. an irrepressible forward-thinking inventor whose social skills are decidedly limited. At one point Serge makes a mini-speech about how “I can’t love people…If I love them I couldn’t create for them” that isn’t far removed from Harry Caul’s famous “I don’t know anything about human nature” monologue (and for that matter Francis Ford Coppola’s own admission that “if there’s one sure-fire rule that I have learned in this business, it’s that I don’t know anything about human nature”). This lack of understanding about humanity provides Serge’s enemies with a great deal of ammunition, and gets him into a shitload of trouble.
Those enemies are led by Frank Cicero, the mayor of New York, who views Serge as the antichrist. He’s especially pissed when his daughter Julia backs Serge’s Megalopolis project. This refers to a utopian city-within-the-city Serge plans to build with a type of pliable plastic-like substance known as Megalon, and the backing of his uncle Gene Hamilton, the richest man in the city. Opposing it is Frank’s proposed community Cityworld, a monument to consumerism containing a mega-shopping mall and a casino.
This all plays out in extremely involved fashion with over a half-dozen central characters and a narrative that’s staunchly intellectual in its orientation. This means there’s little in the way of action or sensation of the type that would justify the outsized budget this film would doubtless require—although the climactic passages, in which mass violence and crucifixions run riot (in an apparent echo of the Fall of the Roman Empire), are quite diverting.
Other noteworthy elements of MEGALOPOLIS include a distinctly surreal/supernatural angle, evident in the ability by Serge to literally stop time (something he does on numerous occasions), and highly cryptic scene-setting descriptions like “Time is passing as crocuses turn to tulips and dogwood flowers.” The oddly stilted dialogue, apparently meant to evoke the measured orations of pre-20th Century drama, is another dissonant element, and results in morsels like “it’s as though I’m getting transfusions of your greatness through my vagina.”
Final thought: a fascinating, unprecedented and at times brilliant script that could definitely make for a ground-breaking piece of cinema. But once again: it needs work.