Holy Motors

I don’t like short, unelaborated FilmBooster reviews along the lines of “pseudo-intellectual bullshit”. But there is nothing else I can say about this abomination, which fits this particular description better than anything I’ve seen in years. Someone who knows how to operate a camera and who likes colors has written and filmed something that surely no one else would write or film. Is that supposed to be enough? One star only for the scenes with Eva Mendes, which were at least a little bit interesting. Probably because they had Eva Mendes in them. (04/07/2012)

Holy Motors gave me an extremely unpleasant experience that I will not forget for a long time. For the first half hour, I was just brutally bored, and in the following minutes, I forgot about the boredom under the impression of a growing hatred that I began to feel toward this construction. Intellectual masturbation of the worst kind, which rightfully puts all those refined aesthetes into ecstasy, who are willing to search for the most hidden meanings, even where there are none at all. I'm not saying that this is Carax's case, and of course, I can imagine several explanations for this plaything. However, I could not in any way approach the director's game, and one thing I know for sure - I will definitely avoid his name in the future. Popcorn enthusiasts probably won't have a reason to waste time with Holy Motors - and rightfully so, as it has nothing to offer them - it might appeal to those who admire the work of Peter Greenaway. As for myself, I can say that since Greenaway's 8½ Women, I haven't given any film the rating of Boo! with such perverse joy as Holy Motors. You can either love or hate this film - nothing in between. Those who give it 3 stars are deceiving either themselves or others. I could praise the perfect camera, the performance of Denis Lavant, or the fashionable face of Eva Mendes, but I'd rather do it some other time and for another film. Overall impression: 0%. (26/11/2012)

So was Monsieur Merde from Tokyo! was just Monsieur Oscar on vacation? What a disappointment. In any case, after seeing this, I can say just one thing: Kylie is tragic as an actress too. The rest is so weird and flamboyant that, despite everything, you should give it a chance even if you end up switching off in disgust after ten minutes. Even though there is a considerable chance that in this pastiche of incongruous segments you will find something to adore/detest; I found such elements here and proportionally they are represented exactly half-and-half. (25/05/2013)

The animal Lavant should bite the penises and fingers off all those who call it "pseudo-intellectual". This is an absolutely cinephile pleasure, a wonderfully nostalgic, schizophrenic and energy-pressurized endeavor, to which any attempt at "intellectual and rational" interpretations takes the wind from the sails. Sure, Carax uses a myriad of references (to French cinema and especially to his own films), but Holy Motors does not need a complete understanding thereof to run smoothly - on the contrary. It's a wonderfully animalistic, subversive, fresh and physical spectacle, a film that is completely different from most of today's wanting and conventional titles. A demonstration of magical life in a time of ever-increasing emptiness, for me a film with a big F. For those who don’t understand it, go straight to the cemetery a lie down, OK? (07/07/2012)

I'm not a complete fan of meta-movies, which apart from that have nothing different to offer. As appealing as I find the idea of an audience disappearing because people are increasingly inserting themselves into their own assigned roles, and the rigorous handling of formal procedures is respectable in places, unfortunately for half the running time I felt like I was in a knowledge contest where I kept being asked horrendously long questions that I knew the answers to from the beginning but still had to listen to the assignment to the end. I know how bloated that sounds, but Holy Motors deserves it because they're bloated just the same. (14/07/2019)