The stuff that Coppola’s dreams are made of: The director on building ‘Megalopolis’

By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer

CANNES, France (AP) — Of the many quotations and slogans that flitter through Francis Ford Coppola’s idea-stuffed, open-hearted, unabashedly optimistic “Megalopolis,” one that particularly resonates with the director is: “When we leap into the unknown, we prove that we’re free.” In an interview, Coppola says: “That’s me making this film.” Coppola’s first movie in 13 years has been called many things since it was unveiled in Cannes. A folly. A disaster. An audacious, self-financed gamble. What it is, regardless of whether all its strange parts function smoothly together, is a colossal personal statement by one of American’s most visionary filmmakers, about having the daring to be visionary.