I saw the last screening of the day on Oct. 28th. Film Forum was going to be closing early, in advance of the city-wide transit shut down. Superstorm Sandy was bearing down on the city. During the film my pocket was buzzing.
“Are you evacuating?”
I left the theater a few times to check messages and to respond, “no”. While doing so I missed part of the dramatic conversation between Kylie Minogue’s character and the main guy. But I don’t think it matters. I saw the song, lovely and haunting in the abandoned shopping mall.
Holy Motors was a great film to see in advance of the superstorm. Bizarre doesn’t quite describe it. The film is totally nuts. When I got to the movies I was already in a strange mood. The wind was picking up, and there was an erie vibe in the city in anticipation of the 100 year storm. All I knew about the “frankenstorm” heading our way was that it was going to be big. Beyond that, I didn’t know what to expect. And I could say the same thing about the film, both going into it and as I experienced it.
In just about every frame of this chaotic, surreal film is something unexpected. That is an incredible feat and I admire the film just for that. It’s packed with exciting and unsettling images. But I can’t say I liked Holy Motors. I was often put off, even slightly repulsed by what I was seeing. Probably a big part of it is that I just didn’t take to Denis Lavant’s performance. It is without a doubt a virtuoustic, elastic, shape-shifting tour de force but ultimately, as a performance it was too carnivalesque for my tastes — as in Cirque du Soleil. I’m generally biased toward stories based in reality.
I have read that there is an emotional reality informing this movie, but it was too opaque for me to grasp, hidden as it was behind and within all the spectacle. For me the spectacle was as puzzling as faceless mask the mysterious Eva Mendes puts on in the final scene. A good visual, but what’s underneath it? After 2 hours I couldn’t form the foggiest idea of who/what the chauffeur was supposed to be.
Later that night word started coming in that parts of the city were quickly being submerged and swallowed by a 12 foot storm surge. An incomprehensible reality.