Review: Watching Megalopolis Through a Randian Lens

Francis Ford Coppola spent an estimated $120 million (most of it borrowed against his successful wine business) to make Megalopolis, a dream project of personal artistic expression.

Coppola’s was an extravagant gesture reminiscent of Howard Roark, the architect hero of Ayn Rand’s 1943 novel The Fountainhead, who made only what he wanted to make, irrespective of market demand. Megalopolis’ content is somewhat Randian as well—hero Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver) is both an architect, like Roark, and an inventor of a miracle building material, like Hank Rearden, from Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged.

Part of the movie’s failure is that Coppola’s politics and morality are not nearly as compelling or clear as Rand’s. Megalopolis tries to recreate both dying Roman Republic’s corrupt family feuds and Robert Moses–like giant public redevelopment projects reimagined as Randian Promethean artistic vision. (Does Catilina’s supercity, full of glowing swooping lines, moving walkways, and transport via rolling balls, live up to the hype? Not really, which hurts in this visual medium. Better, perhaps, simply to imagine how cool Roark’s buildings looked.)

Rand, with a more consistent message combining individualist artistry with capitalism and liberty, produced huge novels that have been bestsellers for decades. Coppola’s confused mix of artistic heroism with gonzo redevelopment projects and random sci-fi silliness pulled roughly $10 million at the box office.

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