35mm print

If you're ever wondering what it feels like to create art as a testament to how much we dedicate ourselves to the craft, then Holy Motors is the film for you.

Denis Lavant weaves so many different character types into one performance as Oscar, but the more we see Oscar fitting himself into so many different characters, whether it be an old woman, a disgusting man from the sewers, a dedicated father, or a man upon his deathbed, Carax also forms a story of sorts around his artistry. But it's also clear that even Oscar seems to be out of touch with what sort of person he used to be; which is what makes Holy Motors every bit as astonishing as it is.

This isn't so much a film all about putting on masks one by one, and the work that actors of all sorts put into telling so many different stories on the spot, but a film about how we become the masks we wear - convincing us that even our own lives are a performance art in themselves.

Someday I feel like I need the energy to write more about this, because it hasn't left my mind since the first day I saw it and it only continues to boggle me upon every revisit.