Holy Motors (2012)

From dawn to dusk, a few hours in the shadowy life of Monsieur Oscar...

Director:

Leos Carax

Writer:

Leos Carax (screenplay)

Stars:

Denis Lavant, Edith Scob, Eva Mendes

20 wins & 27 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denis Lavant	...	M. Oscar / Le Banquier / La Mendiante / L'OS de Motion-Capture / M. Merde / Le Père / L'Accordéoniste / Le Tueur / Le Tué / Le Mourant / L'Homme au Foyer
Edith Scob	...	Céline (as Édith Scob)
Eva Mendes	...	Kay M
Kylie Minogue	...	Eva Grace (Jean)
Elise Lhomeau	...	Léa (Elise)
Jeanne Disson	...	Angèle
Michel Piccoli	...	L'Homme à la tache de vin
Leos Carax	...	Le Dormeur / Voix Limousine (as LC)
Nastya Golubeva Carax	...	La Petite Fille
Reda Oumouzoune	...	L'Acrobate Mo-Cap
Zlata	...	La Cyber-Femme
Geoffrey Carey	...	Le Photographe / Voix Limousine
Annabelle Dexter-Jones	...	L'assistante photographe
Elise Caron
Corinne Yam

Storyline

From dawn to dusk, a few hours in the shadowy life of Monsieur Oscar...

---

Plot Keywords:

beggar | sewer | limousine driver | photographer | monkey | 

---

Genres:

Drama | Fantasy

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

France Germany

Language:

French English Chinese

Release Date:

4 July 2012 (France)

Also Known As:

Sveti motori

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pierre Grise Productions, Théo Films, Pandora Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Leos Carax offered the part of Mr. Oscar's love from the past to his own former girlfriend, Juliette Binoche. According to Carax, they finally "did not get along". He then rewrote the part, made it a singing character and cast Kylie Minogue instead.

---

Connections

References Eyes Without a Face (1960)

---

Soundtracks

"Let My Baby Ride"
Written by R.L. Burnside and Tom Rothrock
Adapted by Doctor L, Elliot Simon and Quentin Auvray

User Reviews

Magical head-scratcher

It's going to be difficult to keep this short.

One of the darlings of the 2012 festival circuit, Leos Carax's Holy Motors delivers a pure cinematic experience designed to confront and challenge our understanding of the art form at every level. At the risk of over-simplifying a film that is anything but simple, Holy Motors is a film about the cinema as it stands today, and the deft ways in which Carax explores various aspects of his subject, whether addressing film- makers themselves, we the audience, or even the debate over physical versus digital media, are so rich and dense that it is impossible to absorb it all after a single viewing. As such it is sure to alienate and infuriate perhaps the majority of viewers, yet those who find themselves swept up in the abstract beauty of it all are in for an inspiring, enlightening, and at times overwhelming two hours.

Holy Motors follows a day in the life of Monsieur Oscar (a mind-boggling Denis Lavant), an actor whose roles seem to take place out in the real world rather than on the stage or screen. As Oscar is ferried from one assignment to the next by his faithful limousine driver Céline (Edith Scob), so too does writer-director Carax transport us to his next discussion point. Each surreal vignette is presented without much in the way of explanation, and Carax refuses to hold the hand of the audience, instead offering viewers the chance to piece the film together themselves. Similarly, Lavant's remarkable performance can turn without warning, shifting the entire film's tone from tragic to comical at a moment's notice, further disorienting the audience. While some of Oscar's 'roles' have illuminating punchlines to ease our understanding, the majority are much more conceptual, and will demand repeat viewings to unpack before Carax's intentions for the piece as a whole will become clear, if they ever will.

In a year where chatter surrounding huge tent-pole releases is choking social media and online communities, Holy Motors is the film that most deserves to be discussed, and debates about the film amongst cinéastes are likely already in full swing. While the audience who will really connect with the film is going to be comparatively small, nothing has offered this much to chew on for some time, and its value to those who appreciate it will only increase over time. Holy Motors cannot really be approached effectively in a brief review such as this, as it's not exactly an easy film to recommend or not given that each individual could potentially take something different from seeing it. But for those seeking a respite from the mindlessness of blockbuster season, seeing Holy Motors is a no-brainer. Carax almost forces the audience into an intellectual tug-of-war without ever feeling like he is talking down to us, rather that he wants us to reconsider the world of cinema, and not least of all our own place in it.

tinribs27.wordpress.com