Holy Motors: What the Fuck just happened?

Title: Holy Motors

Director: Leos Carax

Writer: Leos Carax

Starring: Denis Lavant, Edith Scob, Eva Mendes, Kylie Minogue

Grade: B-/C+

Tagline: From dusk to dawn, a few hours in the life of Monsieur Oscar, a shadowy character who journeys from one life to the next. He is, in turn, captain of industry, assassin, beggar, monster, family man...

Good Movie For: Stoners, Eva Mendes Lovers, Cannibals, Dragons, People Named Alice

I recently joined the Cinema Society at my school. With being a member, we usually get deals with the local movie theatre to view screenings at a discounted student rate. I'd seen the trailer for Holy Motors during many previous outings with the society. The trailer left me both intrigued and angry, all at the same time. Now, last time I checked, I did not suffer from bipolar disorder, so I denoted that my strain in feelings must be from the film. Basically the trailer didn't tell me shit. I was left wondering "Well what the fuck is this all about?", even after the tenth time I watched it. Yes. I watched the trailer ten times. I sit through a lot of previews. But even after basically knowing the edits and scenes shot for shot, I still had no clue what the film was about. But I watched it. How could you pass up on a discount student rate? I'm a student. This movie shit doesn't come cheap.

So I sat there, with my discounted ticket, homemade popcorn, and smuggled in soda, ready to finally figure out what the fuck was going on. Well, I didn't. I still don't know what the fuck is going on. That might just be my inherent nature, but shit. Still no clue. I had to bring in a movie review to analyze for class so I decided to use one about Holy Motors, secretly hoping that this might finally shed light on what exactly I experienced. It did. Sort of. It wasn't a spotlight, but more like one of those lights you mount on the front of you bike, with a half dead battery in it.

Basically the review tells the audience to just sit back and "experience" the film. To not think too much while watching it. Stop analyzing it, and just be in it. Well. I can't do that. I'm a film student. It's basically ingrained into our brains now to dissect a film. I dissected the shit out of Breaking Dawn: Part 1. Why? Not because I had to for a class, but because that's how my mind works now. I can't take myself out of it. I need to figure out how all of the pieces of the puzzle come into play so I can talk about it later. But this, this is like trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together blind, with one hand. Not even with a hand. With a hook for a hand.

But I sort of get it. I get what the review was talking about. Visually, this movie was incredibly intriguing and beautiful. The different setups and different characters that Denis Lavant played were astonishing. But that seems to be as far as it goes. Something that is beautiful to the eye, but fucks up the mind. This film sort of feels like a gigantic inside joke that we're never really in on. There may be glimpses of connection, but then you realize that you have now been shoved into the corner on time out, not allowed to play with the others. I may not be sophisticated enough to understand this, but may I not want to be at that level of posh. At the end of the day, this movie had many good points, but if you're going into it looking for a clear cut narrative, you might just be better watching Breaking Dawn: Part 2. (OK. It wasn't that bad. You should probably watch this over Twilight, but just enjoy the pictures.)