Karl’s review published on Letterboxd:
Before seeing Coppola's passion project, I was aware of the divisive reviews, most of which were on the negative side. I had hoped this would be a misunderstood curiosity out-of-synch with current viewing habits, but one that'd I'd admire for its audacity. This is indeed a curious film but not in a positive way but more as in a 'how the fuck did this happen!?'. I honesty don't know what to say. For the first hour I was unable to latch onto anything of interest. None of the characters appealed to me nor did the convoluted story. Most disappointingly, even on a visual level this was a bit of a let down. It wasn't nearly as arresting as say something like "Dracula" was.
During the last hour I started to get more on Coppola's wavelength. It's here where there are some truly awe-inspiring imagery. The problem is I didn't care about how they reflected the story or more important the characters' inner life. The last half-hour started to build some tension as we watch the struggle over control New Rome between Ceaser (Adam Driver) and Mayor Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito). Driver is actually pretty good with what he's given.
The actresses fare less well with atrocious dialogue that could be viewed as camp except that they aren't quotable. The female roles are very dated as is the idea of what utopia would be. There's definitely a heteronormative streak in in. At one point Ceaser is asked if he's attracted to the man or the woman entering a club. He responds, the woman of course. Everyone will always choose the woman. Ceasar’s crazed cousin, played by Shia, wears a dress. Of course he does. It's so evident that this was written decades ago and not updated to reflect changing gender attitudes.
The last half-hour was when I finally kind of started to like it or at least care about what was going on. The last shot will always stay with me. It shows the artistry that Coppola is capable of. It intrigued me and left me with a bit of a positive feeling but then I remembered all the nonsense that came before. The film is actually best when no one is speaking. For a film that I thought was going to use primarily visual storytelling there's always someone running their mouth. Vomiting the atrocious stilted dialogue Coppola has given them.
*excuse errors. will edit later. I'm sad this is my response. I really admire artistic visions. this didn't connect with me at all.
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