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Leos Carax Presented Holy Motors at the 19th FICM

Andrea Mora

Leos Carax presented Holy Motors (2012), the last film in the retrospective dedicated to the director as part of his visit to the 19th Morelia International Film Festival (FICM).

Leos Carax has one thing clear: cinema is his home. "Cinema is a place that I discovered when I was 16-17 years old, and since then I have lived in it," he said. He also added that cinema owes him a lot and always thanks him.

To the applause of the audience, the great Leos confessed that he does not recognize himself as a director, he only does what he likes. He even revealed that he never sees his films after he finishes them, unlike other directors, he prefers not to see his work anymore; when he's finished directing, the movie ends for him. Although he has stopped watching movies, "cinema is in my head," he said.

He admitted Holy Motors was a movie he really enjoyed making. The shooting did not take long, he shot it in Paris, a city he knows like no one else, and he also worked alongside Denis Lavant, an actor he knows well. He defines his film as science fiction, although it’s "much more fiction than science."

The film closed the Leos Carax retrospective with an appreciative audience and a room full of applause. Thus, the French director concluded his participation in the Festival.

Holy Motors follows the life of Monsieur Oscar, a mysterious man who goes from one life to another, as he is driven through Paris in a limousine by a loyal driver. He is, by turns, a murderer, beggar, monster, family man. He seems to be playing roles, but where are the cameras?

The film marked Carax's return to the cinema after a ten-year absence after the premiere of Pola X. This film is perhaps one of the director's most awarded and praised, it has been presented at countless film festivals around the world such as the Cannes Film Festival, the Munich Film Festival, the Locarno Festival, the Vancouver Festival, the Festival de Janeiro.