Last week, I watched “Holy Motors” during another class’s screening. It is the most bizarre film I’ve ever watched (except for “a pigeon sat on a tree reflecting on existence”). Despite of that, I was sure that I liked the film. I love how it condenses the course of life in one day, while exaggerating the man’s behaviours to characterise different parts of life. I love the dynamics in this film. It can get scary, normal, dirty, bloody, romantic, or aesthetic, or anything if you name it; though in the meantime, every element just appears so naturally, connecting by the man’s daily job.
The surealness of this film seems to me is reality. We born; we grow and change; we keep going to the next stage of our lives where there are love, hate, tragedies or surprises; we help others, but we also do bad things to our own kind; we have a full schedule to go through until we die. At last, we are simply animals. These are my interpretations for the series of events happened in the film:
Start from the beginning, the man awakes and walks through the door he finds on the wall. The tree-pattern wall paper symbolises the nature; so maybe it’s saying: “mankind walked away from the forests(nature) and built cities”. Then, there’s this theatre crowded with audiences. This scene reminds me of an over-said line: “life is like a stage.” The shot soon cuts to the man going to work so the life of the man begins. Quickly, we learn that the man had a full list of appointment. When he first dresses up as a beggar, I was surprised. As the plot develops, I got used to the pattern but still found the movie bizarre. The man just changes so constantly that I couldn’t grab the man’s personality; but I suppose that’s the whole point. It’s just like how we changes over time. Every appointment he has next represents stages of lives. I won’t go into every single one here because it will go crazy. I love the part which the man meets his beau. The scene is beautiful with the song being sang, knowing that this meeting won’t last long. At the end of the movie, the man goes to a different home than the one at the start and chimpanzees are his family. This is ever so right. Aren’t we all just animals? The last scene is also intriguing. It took me by surprise again when the “holy motors” began to talk. I felt a bit melancholy but I’m not sure why.
“Holy motors” really impressed me and I think I may try to watch it again. Another thing that strikes me is that I really should watch some more French movies. They are daring, and probably are not making sense if we don’t look into them for metaphors and symbolisms.
Here at the end, I just want to share this link of the soundtrack, “Revivre” by Gérard Manset:
