Holy Motors (2012)

Oscar: a person in a limo with a number of appointments arranged by the “Office”. Appointments which are extremely different between them. Oscar changes faces, clothing, attitude, posture, everything. Oscar becomes totally different every time to accommodate the needs of its next role.

He must be a banker, a beggar, a dancer  using a motion capture uniform, a repulsive inhuman grotesque figure, a father, a musician, etc. Time is always against him. He must fulfill all these appointments within a day. A feast driven by his desire to “disguise” himself.

Does it ring a bell? Holy Motors  is an allegory :). My interpretation follows … My suggestion: read it after you’ve seen the film.

Oscar is the person which tries to use all the different “faces” needed to live in our world. It is the price paid to reach success, to ride the limo with the driver. The role may die but the person keeps going on because it is different from the role. The person is getting tired of course. But the “show must go on”. And it does.

There many things I liked in the film:

– The last thing the “father” said to its daughter about the way she was punished because she lied to him: “Your punishment is to be yourself and live with you!”

– The closeness of the musician’s role to the real Oscar and the togetherness of the band: the power of music, The music itself!

– The death-bed dialogue followed by the ending of the “role-play” by Oscar

– The irony about the time Oscar and the love of his early life allocated for their meeting: thirty – whole – minutes!

– The cruel irony about the final appointment: your house, your wife, your daughter. They are supposed to be people but he lacks the courage to go in his own house. They are apes for him.

The more one thinks about the film’s scenes, more things are discovered.

My rating: 09/10 – if the allegory is understood!

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