Yesterday was our second cinema studies screening and we watched the most bizarre film I have ever seen! It was a French film called Holy Motors made in 2012. The main character was Mr. Oscar who’s job was become these different people and act out that person in public. Each time he returned to his limo he would ‘change character’ and become someone new. Each time this happened, instrumental music played softly in the background which became a repetitive theme in the film. It was an indication to the audience that Mr Oscar would soon take on another persona. After having done the reading it was clear that we had to look for patterns and reoccurring themes to understand an experimental film. In the beginning he asks his driver how many “appointments” he has, and she replies nine. This provides the audience with some insight into the structure of the film.

Being an experimental film it was very difficult to understand why Mr Oscar did what he did. He claims he does it for “the act” and yet as an audience member I still found it difficult to understand why he became those people. Who was making his appointments? Just when we thought we would see a normal ending of Mr Oscar returning home to his family, we see him return home to a family of gorillas. It is parts of the film like this which are difficult to explain. Where is his real family? Even at the conclusion of the film there are many questions left unanswered.