Movie Review - Holy Motors

Holy Motors (2012)

Starring Denis Levant, Edith Scob, Eva Mendes, and Kylie Minogue

Directed by Leos Carax

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

What the f*** did I just watch?

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Alright.  I guess I'll elaborate a little on the profane words above.  Since profanity doesn't usually flow freely on this website, my gut reaction immediately following the movie of those words above must mean that Holy Motors is one odd cinematic journey.  Perhaps if I was French or was well versed in French cinema or was someone who was actually paid to pen film criticism, I'd have thought this was absolutely fantastic.  But seeing as how je ne suis pas français, am not familiar with old-school French cinema, and am not making dough from this website, this film just had me shaking my head most of the time in disbelief that something so surrealistic could be so lauded.  As I sat watching, I clicked over to RottenTomatoes and discovered that 90% of the critics polled rated Holy Motors "fresh."  Quite honestly, that "fresh" rating was just flabbergasting because they only reason to like this film is if you want others to think you're really smart thereby boosting your own ego.  I'm sure there are insanely deep meanings or heartfelt homages in every scene, but this isn't a film that a typical filmgoer can go into and become entranced.

Now, these criticisms aren't to say that Holy Motors isn't well-made.  It's oftentimes very pretty to look at and the production values from the costumes to the make-up to the set designs are top notch.  Even the acting by Denis Levant is fine (getting surprisingly moving towards the film's end)...but the tone is just all around too odd to comprehend what the hell is going on.  Director and screenwriter Leos Carax has created something incomprehensible.  That in and of itself isn't a reason the film doesn't work.  The problem is that the cinematic journey just grows tiresome after a bit as the insanity of the "plot" simply wears down the viewer.

From what I can make out, Holy Motors is about this guy Monsieur Oscar (Denis Levant) who is maybe kinda sorta an actor.  He's picked up one morning at what is presumably his ritzy house and he's chauffeured around in a fancy white limo all day by some older lady named Céline (Edith Scob).  As Céline drives him around Paris, Oscar changes into various costumes, gets out of the limo, and acts out scenes with people.  Except I don't think the people he's "acting" with know he's an actor.  Or maybe they do.  Who the hell knows.  As an example, in one scene, Oscar dons a motion capture suit (you've seen those full-body lycra things with little balls on them so the camera can pick up on an actor's movements) and then proceeds to simulate killing someone with swords followed by simulating having sex with something which later turns out to be some sensual dragon.  Um...yeah...And then we follow that scene with Oscar dressing up like some vagrant who kidnaps Eva Mendes (who is playing some vapid model) and takes her to the sewers below Paris where he strips for her and then lays his head on her crotch and falls asleep.

Seriously...what the hell?

The funny thing is, though, that as I sit here typing this, I'm finding myself thoroughly amused with what I'm remembering.  Don't get me wrong...this was a chore to slog through (in fact, it took me multiple sittings to finish this one), but there is something a little fascinating about the ridiculous nature of the whole affair.  And, at times, Holy Motors is rather moving, particularly in a scene towards the end in which Oscar sees a former colleague named Eva Grace (played by Kylie Minogue) and they reminisce about a former love affair they had together.  Perhaps it's this scene (which had an oddly Umbrellas of Cherbourg tone to it) that is making me think more fondly of the film than I should be at the moment.  But, it also pinpoints the problem with the film that a "normal viewer" like me faces.  I could connect this rather moving scene and its intended homage to another film (or I at least could pretend to connect it to something I had seen before).  All the other scenes which must hold some deeper meaning failed to resonate with me because I couldn't comprehend what they were trying to say.

Maybe if you're a lover of francophile cinema, you'll go gaga over Holy Motors, but I unfortunately was unable to do so.