Francis Ford Coppola has no middle ground. This is the only way to explain why he is one of the most successful directors in the history of the seventh art.

Such was the story with The Godfather, which is said to have suffered enormous problems in its making, including a fight to the death with the film's producer, Robert Evans, who made his life miserable.

He followed up with Apocalypse Now, a story about war and, in the style of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, a deadly journey of degeneration and loss of values. According to The New York Times, the director mortgaged all his properties to put US$30 million into his production, which ended up being another hit in the history of cinema. Then came other mega-productions such as Dracula, which showed that he had an eye for art, but more so for finances, as they all turned out to be huge box-office hits.

Now he surprises audiences with other self-financed mega-production that he has been dreaming of for 40 years and which cost him US$120 million.

Megalopolis stars Adam Driver and features guest stars Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Jason Schwartzman, Talia Shire, Grace VanderWaal, Laurence Fishburne, Kathryn Hunter and Dustin Hoffman.

According to the film's website review, it is "Megalopolis is a Roman Epic set in an imagined Modern America. The City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina, a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero, who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero, the mayor's daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanitydeserves."

According to Manohla Dargis's review in The New York Times, "The fools prove better company in ‘Megalopolis’ than most of the upright types, though with their all-too human comedy they’re not always distinguishable. They begin rushing in after the jolting opener, which finds Catilina dressed in inky black and uncertainly climbing out of a window in the crown of the Chrysler Building. Before long, he is standing with one foot firmly planted and the other shakily raised over the edge. He calls out ‘time stop’ and everything — the clouds above, the cars below — freezes, only to restart at his command. He looks like a colossus, though also brings to mind the early-cinema clown Harold Lloyd hanging over a different abyss in “Safety Last!” (a title that could work for this audacious movie)."

The invitation is to see this "pharaonic" film. Coppola has never disappointed so far. That's why we must give it another chance.