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In a futurist image veering on magical realism, a couple kiss as they hover perilously high above a city skyline

still Megalopolis (Francis Ford Coppola, US 2024)

Films, Talks & Events

Feat or Failure

Films ahead of their time?

5 December 2024 — 8 January 2025

still from Cleopatra (Joseph Mankiewicz, US 1963)

still Cleopatra (Joseph Mankiewicz, US 1963)

With introductions and debates; the silent films will be presented with new scores.

Magnum opus or flawed masterpiece? No film divided opinion at the last Cannes film festival as much as Francis Ford Coppola's latest epic, Megalopolis. To accompany the première, Eye is screening a selection of other films that turned out to be way ahead of their time – in spite of not being well understood in their own era.

still from Ishtar (Elaine May, US 1987)

still Ishtar (Elaine May, US 1987)

still from Megalopolis (Francis Ford Coppola, US 2024)

still Megalopolis (Francis Ford Coppola, US 2024)

American trade journal Variety was scathing in its criticism of sci-fi epic Megalopolis: ‘a garish, idea-bloated monstrosity.’ However, there were also positive responses. Time Magazine called the film 'playful and visually dazzling.’ The Los Angeles Times applauded Coppola for not presenting something tame, but instead ‘an overstuffed, vigorous, seething story about the roots of fascism.’

still from Metropolis (Fritz Lang, DE 1927)

still Metropolis (Fritz Lang, DE 1927)

With this film, Coppola wanted to take a critical look at the many crises facing the world today: the collapse of democracy; the rise of demagogic fascists; the loss of confidence in public institutions; man-made catastrophes on a gigantic scale.

still from On the Silver Globe (Andrzej Zulawski, PL 1988)

still On the Silver Globe (Andrzej Zulawski, PL 1988)

still from Blade Runner: The Final Cut (Ridley Scott, US 1982/2007)

still Blade Runner: The Final Cut (Ridley Scott, US 1982/2007)

Time capsules

Quite a few films have been made that later proved to be way ahead of their time, but which were not understood during their own era. These films turned out to be time capsules depicting the urgent issues of the day. Unsurprisingly, these films frequently didn’t receive a critical re-evaluation until long after their release, as they could only be properly placed in their own historical context with a generous dose of hindsight.

Films which, like Megalopolis, are on a grand scale in terms of intent and ideas, and which at the time divided press and public alike – but which ultimately only became more powerful and fascinating with the passage of time. And where better than in Eye to see a selection of films which, however different, share the fact that they relate incisive images and ideas about this particular moment, in this historical moment, to both past and present.

still from Strange Days (Kathryn Bigelow, US 1995)

still Strange Days (Kathryn Bigelow, US 1995)

still from Playtime (Jacques Tati, FR 1967)

still Playtime (Jacques Tati, FR 1967)

Coppola himself talked of the creative excitement generated by making a film such as Megalopolis “when you don’t yet know how to make it.” Sight & Sound rightly commented in this respect: ‘Maybe the challenge is also for us, the audience: to see a ​​film we don’t yet know how to watch.’

In a futurist image veering on magical realism, a couple kiss as they hover perilously high above a city skyline

still Megalopolis (Francis Ford Coppola, US 2024)

Films, Talks & Events

still from Intolerance (D.W. Griffith, US 1916)

still Intolerance (D.W. Griffith, US 1916)

still from Hearts of Darkness: a Filmmaker's Apocalypse (Fax Bahr, US 1991)

still Hearts of Darkness: a Filmmaker's Apocalypse (Fax Bahr, US 1991)

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