Denis Lavant makes changing character look like hard physical work, and the effort is part of the pleasure. We find him funny and unexpectedly moving when he lets the strain of performing show.
Fi1m perspective
In Holy Motors (2012), we keep looking at Denis Lavant's posture as he moves between playing a banker, a beggar and a father. Each asks something different of his body, and he makes the exertion visible without making the characters seem like demonstrations of the same trick. We felt worn out for him, because even the comedy carries the effort of becoming somebody else again. That fatigue is familiar: having another role to fulfil when we would prefer to stop for the day.
Lavant's breakthrough came as Alex in Leos Carax's Boy Meets Girl (1984). The partnership continued with Mauvais Sang (1986) and The Lovers on the Bridge (1991), in both of which he played Alex. He also worked with Claire Denis, playing Galoup in Beau Travail (1999), another role notable for dance and physical expression. With Holy Motors, Carax made the business of changing roles central, giving Lavant a new physical task in each episode.
Caroline Champetier and Yves Cape's cinematography lets us read the labour in his posture and the way he occupies the frame. Florian Sanson's production design gives the roles distinct surroundings, so Lavant is not left to establish each new character on his own. Those places have enough presence for leaving them to feel like a disruption. The film is funniest and saddest when it allows us to notice how much the next change asks of him.
Carax's fascination with him does have a cost. Some episodes linger, while Édith Scob, Eva Mendes and Kylie Minogue get less freedom to change and less room to express the sadness of performing. Lavant remains absorbing, but the writing makes it harder to care about the people he encounters beyond their effect on him. Start with Holy Motors, allowing for a few stretches when Carax is slower to move on than we are.
Biography
Denis Lavant is a French actor. He was born on 17 June 1961 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France. He trained in pantomime and circus skills and studied at the Paris Conservatoire under Jacques Lassalle before beginning his professional career in theatre in 1982.
Lavant made his film breakthrough in 1984 as Alex in Leos Carax's Boy Meets Girl. He has collaborated repeatedly with Carax, appearing in Mauvais Sang (1986), Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991) and Holy Motors (2012), in which he plays multiple roles including Mr. Oscar. He has also appeared in Claire Denis's Beau Travail (1999) as Galoup and Harmony Korine's Mister Lonely (2007).
