Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Megalopolis’ press conference puts Jon Voight in the hot seat
The premiere of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” was every bit the sensation people were expecting—with some critics calling the self-financed neo-Roman civic engineering drama a masterpiece and others calling it a disorganized mess.
The 85-year-old auteur, one of the few to have won the Palme D’Or twice (for “The Conversation” and “Apocalypse Now,” and who could make history with a cinematic three-peat), was sure to bring the same level of chaotic energy to his post-screening press conference. He took shots at the studios and suggested the tech companies might permanently dethrone them,
The best was when a man with a European accent, citing the film’s hope for the future, asked the writer-director if he has fears about today’s political climate when “men like Donald Trump are in charge.”
Coppola cited the worldwide trend to “neo-right, even fascist traditions, which is frightening for anyone alive during the horrors of World War II.”
He concluded that it is up to artists to shine a light on that, but then turned to a member of his cast, Jon Voight, and said “Jon, you have different political opinions…”
“How did you find that out?” the extremely pro-Trump Oscar-winner (and three-time nominee) zinged back, prompting chuckles.
Coppola, showing his “classic liberal” bonafide from another age, saluted his company, which includes Adam Driver, Kathryn Hunter, Giancarlo Esposito, Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shire, Shia Labeouf, Dustin Hoffman, and more for representing a diversity of political thought.
At the #Megalopolis press conference, Francis Ford Coppola says "there is a trend happening toward the neo-right, even fascist tradition."
Gesturing to Jon Voight, he says, "Jon, you have different political opinions."
Voight responds, "How did you find that out?"… pic.twitter.com/1xHUomEdT5
— Variety (@Variety) May 17, 2024
Coppola asked Voight how we can build a better future, and the actor kept it pretty vague, saying “I agree with this film, Francis’ vision that human beings are capable of solving every problem we get ourselves into. We can do it; that’s what the last moments of the film that Adam is saying. We can do it. We must bond together, we must help each other, we must listen to each other and we must take this on and make a better world. We’ve been through quite a lot. We have experience and we know many things. We have to do our best and we have to do our best to appreciate those people who step out and attempt to show us the way a little bit.”
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