So we know that Holy Motors is in some ways a tribute to older film classics like Eyes Without a Face (which features not only a mask similar to the one we see Celine wear at the end, but also the same actress, Edith Scob).
What other classics does the film play tribute to? Any thoughts?
There are references to three of Carax's previous films :
- Mauvais Sang (motion capture sequence, when red and white line scroll in the background)
- Les amants du Pont-Neuf (sequence of the beggar, and at La Samaritaine)
- Tokyo! (M.Merde sequence ; it's not a coincidence if denis Lavant is eating sushi just before this mission)
The shot of the limo driving along the canals at night is a near recreation of one of the opening shots in Boy Meets Girl.
shareMax Mon Amour, a 1986 French trifle starring Charlotte Rampling as a woman married to a chimpanzee
shareMatthew Barney's Drawing Restraint 7, which takes place entirely inside a white limo driving through New York... and employs heavy use of obvious latex prosthetics and makeup. Also Cremaster 5... Kylie Minogue atop La Samaritaine quotes the shot of the Magician back-diving into the Danube.
shareI believe the naming(Jean, as in Seberg), and hairstyle of Minougue's character is an allusion to Breathless. Also referring to the child they lost in the past, since Seberg's character was pregnant in Breathless.
shareDefinitely, "Breathless" revisited - even the way Minogue's character is walking reminds me of that film.
All in all, I felt as if I were watching a subdued version of an Alejandro Jodorowsky film.
The house at the beginning of the 'film' looks very like the one Hulot's brother lives in in Mon Oncle.
There's also a literary inspiration- Hermann Melville's Thw Confidence Man. I wonder if the Great White Limousine refers to Moby Dick as well.
The first house - Hulot's Mon Oncle
Monsieur Merde's music is from Godzilla
Musical Sequence - The Umbrella's of Cherbourg
Jean - Jean Seberg
Photo Sequence - Blow Up??
There are nautical sounds and foghorns during the opening sequence in the theater - more Melville (the filmmaker) reference? It then cuts to the girl in the ship-like window in the large white house.
>>The first house - Hulot's Mon Oncle
I concur
>>Jean - Jean Seberg
interesting
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Last movie watched: Contact (8/10)
Avatar!!! :-)
shareNot a movie, but the scene where he plays a dying rich man talking to his beautiful niece is lifted practically word for word from the novel PORTRAIT OF A LADY by Henry James.
shareTHANK YOU. That is one of my favorite books...when that scene began with her saying that that man would not have married her had she not been rich, I was thinking, "Who did she marry, Osmond!?" Ha. My friend told me I was reading too far into it and the similarities were just coincidence. Glad to know someone agrees!
shareHenry James gets thanked in the credits, alongside Georges Franju.
shareAnd Henry James is in the end credits ("Thanks to..."), with Georges Franju.
shareEntr'acte (1924) - Rene Clair: The word is written in the film. It's a dada film which was a precursor to the french surrealist movement, so it seems that the reference would fit the syntax of the film.
Underground (1995) - Emir Kusturica: Accordion scene reminds me of the opening scene of Kusturica's Underground with the band following him around ambiguously.
Did anyone notice hints of the Lettrist movement in Holy Motors?
sharePhysical movement digitally integrated and transformed into sexualized virtual movement in the motion capture sequence could superficially fit the mold of the lettrist term "hypergraphic."
In addition, if one strictly differentiates the use of "film" and "digital recording" as two separate artistic medium, then the film also meanders into lettrist territory as Carax is blatantly proclaiming "FILM IS DEAD" with the mise en scene and implicit plot of Holy Motors.
shrug my 2 cents
In addition, if one strictly differentiates the use of "film" and "digital recording" as two separate artistic medium, then the film also meanders into lettrist territory as Carax is blatantly proclaiming "FILM IS DEAD" with the mise en scene and implicit plot of Holy Motors.
I've been chewing on the apes' significance, I like what you're saying there.
shareSPOILERS
this may be a little far-fetched, but the talking limos at the end made me think of Billy Wilder's original opening scene for Sunset Boulevard.
the limp and the young woman/old man dynamic, along with the mise en scene strongly reminded me of bunuel's tristana. in fact, much of the film in style and content reminded me of bunuel's work, and edith scob played the virgin mary in bunuel's the milky way. there were also very strong visual references in the mr merde sequence, particularly michelangelo's pieta.
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