Holy Motors (2012)

Carax has made a sublime and surreal ode to acting and moviemaking; Lavant's performance powers the film through its chapters, offering a window onto the joy and sadness of acting.

The critic calls it the year’s most electrifying whatsit and a bravura, go-for-broke exploration that is thrillingly, defiantly alive, a glorious dream-epitaph contradicting its own mournful thesis. They single out its scene-by-scene reinvention and Denis Lavant’s chameleonic performance.

The critic calls Holy Motors a freewheeling, kaleidoscopic tale that redefines peculiar, with nothing about it that isn't weird, yet declares it a contender for the best of the year. It highlights the astonishing one-man-show performance by Denis Lavant and the film's exhilarating, audacious quality.

It is a film of extraordinarily youthful vigor and a paean to a life in the cinema, dramatizing age, loss, and the sacrifices of acting and filmmaking with astonishing precision and spontaneity.

The critic finds Holy Motors even loopier than its double-bill partner Looper, describing it as an anthology of genre pastiches that remains involving thanks to Denis Lavant's astonishing versatility. It is accessible and fun yet ambitious and stimulating, carrying genuine emotion amid its surreal exploration of identity and performance.

The film is idiosyncratic and stylised but makes no sense; vignettes work at first but fail later, lacking character development and emotional engagement despite pretty visuals.

The review portrays the film as a barmy, eccentric offering that beggars description, leaving the critic in disbelief despite its influences from Buñuel and Cocteau. While acknowledging Denis Lavant's spectacular, mime-like performance as a latterday Chaplin, it warns viewers they may find it a work of dizzy genius but urges caution.

The film is an ingenious, half-mad triumph and exactly what one expects from outlier Carax. It is a love letter to a specific form of acting and to the troglodyte performer Denis Lavant, whose surreal role-playing drives the story.

Carax makes up for lost time with a rambling, radically loopy metaphysical fugue in which a protean protagonist shape-shifts through shades of the human condition; it will be acclaimed by some as visionary and dismissed by others as derivative.

The critic finds the film a mercurial portmanteau of cinema references that is marvellous in its invention and energy, praising Lavant's performance, but notes it is uneven with some scenes too long and weak female characters.

The critic praises the film’s surreal beginning that sets up a funny, anarchic, and self-referential tone, along with its visceral satisfaction of framed images and references to cinema history. They single out its capacity for reinvention while noting it risks becoming a maddening game of spot-the-reference.

The critic calls the film a gripping surrealist odyssey whose magic ingredient is comedy, describing it as a gorgeous furry teacup of a film that is preposterous and filled with secrets. He praises its immersive yet alienating quality and the way it makes most other films look buttoned-up.

The critic describes the film as exhilarating, opaque, heartbreaking and completely bonkers, a deliciously preposterous piece of filmmaking that appraises life and death in a funhouse mirror. They single out the boisterous accordion jam and visually stunning sequences for praise.

The film is a dream of the movies that looks like a movie of dreams, a reverie of freedom and imagination in which the viewer never knows where Carax will take them next.

Every idea, dream and nightmare Carax has had since his last feature is thrown into this singular picture of surreal vignettes. Denis Lavant's spellbinding performance holds it all together and makes it the most surprising, imaginative and hilarious film on a scene-by-scene basis.

The critic hails Holy Motors as great art for its exploration of acting as a compulsion that persists even without an audience, blending humor, sadness, and philosophical depth. They single out Denis Lavant's powerhouse performance as the weary actor Oscar, representing total artistic commitment and fearlessness.

The review calls the film beautiful madness that is rabid and resplendent, alive and bristling with emotion, mischief and calamity. It praises the inventive, shape-shifting performance of Denis Lavant and the film's playful yet profound exploration of performance and existence.

The daring and surreal film will amuse and bemuse in equal measure but is worth supporting as an artistic work. Denis Lavant's terrific chameleon performance as Monsieur Oscar binds the vignettes together through highs and lows.

The critic describes the film as an intriguing day trip into eros and psyche, highlighting its transformative performances and surreal sequences. She singles out the acting of Eva Mendes and Kylie Minogue for particular praise.

The review calls the film a fascinating and heartbreaking study of humanity and the blurred line between living and acting, made palatable by its tension between drama and comedy. It singles out how the light-hearted humor undercuts some of the dark sadness, especially in the ending, while keeping the audience engaged.