4: Holy Motors

Before seeing this movie, I found a note on my car stating, "You really are parked like a jerk."

I'm really not sure why this person thinks I give a shit whether I'm parked like a jerk or not, but maybe they were kicked out of meter-maid school and they've been bitter about it ever since. I'm sure they imagine themselves to be some sort of vigilante hero, when really they are just a passive-aggressive asshole. In retribution, I vowed to always park like a jerk whenever possible.

Then I got a milkshake at Dick's and went to the movies.

Holy Motors is a french film playing at the SIFF Film Center. It is essentially a string of vignettes ranging from avant garde to absurd. The main character is Oscar, a trollish man traveling around Paris in a limousine to his appointments, during which he enters into various people's lives at key moments. I know that isn't very helpful in figuring out what this movie is about. But I've already SEEN the movie, and I'm not totally sure I know what it's about either.

I really, really enjoyed this movie. It explained very little about why anything in it happened, so if you need closure, maybe you won't enjoy it as much as I did. But it was visually enchanting, and had a wide range of grotesque and bizarre characters. There was even an interlude during which a delightful accordion band played.

Full of inappropriate humor and touching moments, it was a very entertaining film. Kylie Minogue played an integral part beautifully, and Eva Mendes was featured in one of the most bizarre and hilarious scenes. The two main characters, Denis Lavant and Édith Scob were quietly (and sometimes not-so-quietly) brilliant. 

I feel like if I was smarter and watched this movie 10 more times, I'd come out of it with some profound meaning. But after just one viewing, I feel like I just enjoyed the spectacle, and got some sense that the point  may have had to do with the close connection between beauty and the grotesque.

I think this film is playing for at least another week.  I recommend that you take a date. You'll impress them by being interested in such high art cinema. Plus you'll get to see some penises.

Peggy's Rating: Three (out of five) stars.