Utterly crazy, but if you're prepared to go along for the ride entirely fascinating and entertaining, full of dream logic and bizarre violence and humour. In a short prologue we see "ourselves" in a cinema as if in the director's dream. Then Denis Lavant shows off some mighty versatility playing Oscar, a performer, driven around Paris in a stretch limo taking on a range of characters over the course of a day. Why he is performing is never made entirely clear, or for who, he kills and is killed, and resurrected, but there are clues in the dialogue to help you make your own conclusions - the cameras have gotten so small that they are now invisible he says. But it doesn't really matter - to have "answers" seems to contradict Carax's intentions. It's a study of personality, performance, loneliness, watching and being watched, and is challenging and sometimes thrilling cinema that will doubtless enthral and infuriate audiences in equal measure. I loved it.
Poignant, moving, profound: we are all actors and audience in the theatre of life. Except that when we die, grow old, or are born, fall in love, experience that first heartbreak, or hide in the bathroom at a party, there's no going back - for real.
Utterly bewildering, insane, hilarious, illogical, thought-provoking, and engrossing all at the same time. Lavant is marvelous in each role, and had me in a fit of giggles during the cemetery sequence w/Eva Mendes.
Where the central actor in Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis" travelled in a stretch limo and the world came to him, here the central actor travels in a stretch limo and goes out into the world, playing many characters.
There's more passion in this film, you'll see, if you can just go along for the ride.
Every once in a while, I watch some experimental film that's a little hard to get into, but winds up really growing on me. That happened with Holy Motors, a (mostly) French film by Leos Carax, starring the impressive Denis Lavant as Monsieur Oscar, an actor traveling Paris in a limo, going to his various "appointments", basically acting gigs as a variety of characters, but where no camera is visible. The first few are very strange (the absurdist Beauty & the Beast riff would be harder still to watch if it wasn't accompanied by the Godzilla theme), but later ones are more realistic and include a musical scene with Kylie Minogue as another of these nomadic actors. So you could see it as a character actor's career compressed into a single day. Or a metaphor for how we're all actors on the stage of life, playing different faces of ourselves. Or the film might even be decoded as some kind of Christian allegory (not that I'm able to). Just when you think you might be able to figure it out, it throws a loopy ending at you. I guess Holy Motors will always be a kind of enigma, a surprising and inventive one, and a lot more accessible than other "experimental" films I've seen.
Add your comment
Comments 1 - 15 of 23
dombrewer
Utterly crazy, but if you're prepared to go along for the ride entirely fascinating and entertaining, full of dream logic and bizarre violence and humour. In a short prologue we see "ourselves" in a cinema as if in the director's dream. Then Denis Lavant shows off some mighty versatility playing Oscar, a performer, driven around Paris in a stretch limo taking on a range of characters over the course of a day. Why he is performing is never made entirely clear, or for who, he kills and is killed, and resurrected, but there are clues in the dialogue to help you make your own conclusions - the cameras have gotten so small that they are now invisible he says. But it doesn't really matter - to have "answers" seems to contradict Carax's intentions. It's a study of personality, performance, loneliness, watching and being watched, and is challenging and sometimes thrilling cinema that will doubtless enthral and infuriate audiences in equal measure. I loved it.Neville
Poignant, moving, profound: we are all actors and audience in the theatre of life. Except that when we die, grow old, or are born, fall in love, experience that first heartbreak, or hide in the bathroom at a party, there's no going back - for real.bandofoutsider
Utterly bewildering, insane, hilarious, illogical, thought-provoking, and engrossing all at the same time. Lavant is marvelous in each role, and had me in a fit of giggles during the cemetery sequence w/Eva Mendes.natajunk
Never a film mused at this level around one of the most important and complex issues of the art of cinema: Simulation.Worzel
Where the central actor in Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis" travelled in a stretch limo and the world came to him, here the central actor travels in a stretch limo and goes out into the world, playing many characters.There's more passion in this film, you'll see, if you can just go along for the ride.
Siskoid
Every once in a while, I watch some experimental film that's a little hard to get into, but winds up really growing on me. That happened with Holy Motors, a (mostly) French film by Leos Carax, starring the impressive Denis Lavant as Monsieur Oscar, an actor traveling Paris in a limo, going to his various "appointments", basically acting gigs as a variety of characters, but where no camera is visible. The first few are very strange (the absurdist Beauty & the Beast riff would be harder still to watch if it wasn't accompanied by the Godzilla theme), but later ones are more realistic and include a musical scene with Kylie Minogue as another of these nomadic actors. So you could see it as a character actor's career compressed into a single day. Or a metaphor for how we're all actors on the stage of life, playing different faces of ourselves. Or the film might even be decoded as some kind of Christian allegory (not that I'm able to). Just when you think you might be able to figure it out, it throws a loopy ending at you. I guess Holy Motors will always be a kind of enigma, a surprising and inventive one, and a lot more accessible than other "experimental" films I've seen.Torgo
Just sit back and enjoy the plain weirdness.St. Gloede
The kind of weird we should see more of!CSSCHNEIDER
Too weird for me.CrumbThumber
some roles are very interesting. i especially loved the eva mendes role. some were a little boring. but an interesting watch regardlessarminko47
Enjoyably bonkers! :D But not for everyone, that's for sure.blacklola
Pretty weird but totally awesome...Milosh
One of the weirdest movies ever.sammysin
I think I hated it, but I also think I'm missing something.The sewer segment was the only one that I remotely thought was awesome.
Disappointing after all the hype.
mockingbird87
Strangest movie I have ever seen.... ever!Yet quite interesting...
Showing items 1 – 15 of 23