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Holy Motors


Holy Motors is not an easy film for me to describe.  At first glance, the film seems to be a series of, seemingly unrelated, vignettes, all of which feature a mysterious character, by the name of Monsieur Oscar, playing a different persona.  The film doesn’t seem to have a traditional narrative, other than a framing device, in which Oscar travels to his different “appointments” via limo. In some ways, I would argue that the narrative structure Holy Motors is a call-back to the surrealist films of Luis Buñuel, most notably his 1974 film The Phantom of Liberty, which also has a vignette-based plot.  I would also say that the film is a self-reflexive examination of cinema, with each of Oscar’s appointments being representative of a different cinematic style. This is definitely not a film that everyone is going to “get” on their first viewing and even I still need to process the film a bit.  In fact, there are some elements in the film that may end up turning off some viewers.  However, I would say that Holy Motors was an interesting film to say the least and you would be lying if you didn’t have anything to say about it afterwards. 8 | LIKED IT

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Sean Patrick Kelly

Sean Patrick Kelly is a Toronto-based freelance film critic and blogger with a Bachelor of Arts in Cinema and Media Studies from York University. Since founding his site in 2004, Sean has shared his passion for cinema through insightful reviews and commentary. His work has also been featured in prominent outlets, including Toronto Film Scene, HuffPost Canada, Screen Anarchy, ScreenRant, and Rue Morgue Magazine.

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