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Holy Motors Movie Review

Holy Motors is a 2012 French fantasy drama film directed by Leos Carax and starring Denis Lavant. It is a typically inaccessible movie from this frustrating director.

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“I am so afraid I will never die“

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This is a story about a mystic who journeys through the history of legendary film industries and the world of entertainment in search of his final destiny. The idea behind this movie is actually pretty good. I have to say that I appreciated the various references and homages to multiple famous movies and properties.

The motion capture sequence with the suit and the protagonist fighting a reptilian creature was definitely homage to ‘Godzilla’. This was the best part of the movie along with some solid nods to silent cinema. However, most of the rest of the movie did not appeal to me personally.

I did respect Holy Motors on a visual level as the movie is quite cinematic and memorable. The cinematography is frequently quite striking while the score is evocative. The atmosphere achieved here is otherworldly and intriguing.

Still, the movie is so incredibly boring. There is no other way to say this. I was bored out of my mind watching this tedious movie that is two hours long, but so slow in pace and so uneventful in its narrative that it is a difficult sit for sure.

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Holy Motors is idiosyncratic undoubtedly, but sometimes that is not a good thing as is the case here. The movie is too esoteric, disconnected and just something that gives international artsy cinema a bad name. It seems pretentious without being really sophisticated or about anything of essence to be honest. It’s just pretty, artistic emptiness, but emptiness remains emptiness for me no matter how well you coat it with the fine aesthetic.