Man Without a Movie Camera - Brows Held High

November 1, 2016 3:21 PM

Man Without a Movie Camera - Brows Held High Kyle Kallgren's video essay on Leos Carax's Holy Motors (HM, previously)
posted by juv3nal (10 comments total)

As someone has pointed out to me (though he gets into it at the beginning of the video essay), you should watch Holy Motors first because spoilers, among other reasons (the video essay not making much sense being the main one).

But seriously you guys Holy Motors is just so much everything I ❤ it so much.
posted by juv3nal at 3:26 PM on November 1, 2016

To be honest, I'd be more concerned about the video essay not making much sense if I hadn't felt the movie itself could be described in such a way!

I'm still not sure, a few years later, whether I actually liked Holy Motors, which makes it a particularly interesting movie in its own right, arguably.
posted by DoctorFedora at 3:35 PM on November 1, 2016

Also this is the English translation of the lyrics for the song from this scene.
posted by juv3nal at 3:56 PM on November 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

When the documentary Mr. X about Leos Carax was released, my local film society did a Carax retrospective where they showed all his biggest movies except Holy Motors. It was a travesty having to watch that on a TV, but I guess not as much of a travesty as it would have been to leave it out of marathon week. Just wanted to get that complaint out of the way. I still haven't seen it in a theater.

I love that movie (and, of course, Carax, and maybe most of all Denis Lavant), and that is one of the best appreciations I've seen of it. Too many of the reviews were approaching it like it was just wacky and pointlessly surreal, but I think Kallgren gives it the weight it deserves.
posted by ernielundquist at 4:45 PM on November 1, 2016

I really liked Holy Motors! And when I read juv3nal suggestion that there could be a spoiler for the movie because how can you spoil something so absurd. But, wow, that's a fantastic explanation of the film.
posted by Drab_Parts at 5:26 PM on November 1, 2016

Favorite movie of the last ten years. Thanks for this.
posted by benzenedream at 11:10 PM on November 1, 2016

I've never heard of this movie because I'm dumb. I don't care about spoilers and I'm glad I watched this essay. Very big thanks for posting!
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:07 AM on November 2, 2016

This made me go watch Holy Motors, so thanks.
posted by idiopath at 11:03 PM on November 2, 2016

I mean I literally stopped watching the linked vid when he said "go watch Holy Motors first" and I'm glad I did.
posted by idiopath at 11:04 PM on November 2, 2016 [2 favorites]

This thread makes me so happy. My ex and I saw Holy Motors a while back on total impulse and were absolutely delighted by it. Glad to see other people experiencing its delights for the first time.
posted by egypturnash at 6:43 PM on November 4, 2016