Annette (2021 film)

 

Directed by Leos Carax and screenplay by Leos Carax, Ron Mael, and Russell Mael from a story by Ron Mael and Russell Mael, Annette is the story of a stand-up comedian and a singer who fall in love as their lives are changed by the birth of their first child who displays an exceptional gift and a destiny that she is to fulfill. The film is a musical of sorts with music and songs written by Ron Mael and Russell Mael of Sparks with additional lyrics by Carax as they appear in the film as it play into the lives of two artists who deal with their child as well as their own marriage. Starring Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, Simon Helberg, Dveyn McDowell, and Angele van Laeken. Annette is a grand yet astonishing film from Leos Carax.

The film revolves around the titular baby who possesses a special gift from her parents as they had fallen in love and go through a lot following her birth while doing what they can in showing this gift from their daughter to the world. It’s a film with a simple premise yet it is told in unique fashion by Leos Carax with Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks where most of the film’s dialogue is sung as each song that is created does tell a story of an opera singer and a stand-up comedian who meet and fall in love where they create this child with a gift that would amaze the world but also reveal major cracks in their life. Notably as it play into the diverging careers of Annette’s parents in the opera singer Ann Desfranoux (Marion Cotillard) and the provocative stand-up comedian Henry McHenry (Adam Driver) who meet when both were on the rise but Annette’s birth would see Ann’s career soar and Henry going on a downward trend due to his increasing provocative ideas of the world. Following this schism in the two and tragedy, both would discover Annette’s own gift where Ann’s longtime accompanist (Simon Helberg) would play a role in showing the gift to the world but also unveiling some revelations as it relates to Annette’s gift.

Carax’s direction definitely play into elements of surrealism yet much of it is straightforward in the way it presents the life of a couple and their daughter with this amazing gift. Shot largely in Los Angeles with additional locations in Brussels, Bruges, Berlin, Cologne, and other parts of the world, the film opens Carax playing the role of a music producer where Sparks is playing the song So May We Start with the actors singing along as they all walk out of the studio as it’s sort of everyone breaking the fourth wall before they all take part in this story that is to be told. The songs that Sparks created with Carax providing additional lyrics add to the story as the song help set a mood for a scene in the film while it also play into the drama that unfolds. The songs play into elements of opera, rock, pop, and kitsch with some interludes told through tabloids as it relates to the celebrity life of Ann and Henry. With the aid of music supervisor Pierre-Marie Dru, the songs that also include other songs from Sparks and some classical musical piece do also maintain this world that Annette is a part of as she is at the center of a universe through her gift. The presentation of Annette is in the form of puppetry as she was created by Estelle Charlier and Romuald Collinet as it does play into a metaphor of sorts in how Henry views women including his wife whom he feels overshadowed by her own success and adulation.

Carax’s usage of long shots in some of the close-ups and medium shots add to the film’s intimacy as well as allowing the actors to sing their songs in an entire take as it help play into the drama while also creating intense scenes such as a scene on a boat where Henry is drunk as he dances with Ann. There are also wide shots that Carax uses that play into some of the opera scenes of Ann performing with the accompanist in the background in a few scenes as well as the scenes during the third act as it relates to Annette and her gift. Notably in how Henry wants to present Annette to the world and his own motives as opposed to what Ann wanted as it adds to this element of turmoil where it is vast in the presentation. Yet, Carax would find ways to not play into convention as its ending is more about not just loss but also something much deeper into what this child had become. Overall, Carax and Sparks create a majestic yet exhilarating film about an opera singer and a stand-up comedian and the daughter that they created.

Cinematographer Caroline Champetier does incredible work with the film’s cinematography as it often vibrant and colorful for many of the interior settings and the way the daytime/nighttime exterior settings look as it is a highlight of the film. Editor Nelly Quettier does brilliant work with the editing as it does bear some style in some jump-cuts for a few performance scenes along with montages and dissolves to help flesh out the story. Production designer Florian Sanson and set decorator Marion Michel do excellent work with the look of the home that Henry and Ann live in as well as the stage design of Ann’s shows and Henry’s performances as well as Annette’s room. Costume designers Pascaline Chavanne and Ursula Parades Choto do amazing work with the costumes from the clothes that Henry wears including his robe for his show as well as the stylish clothes that Ann wears in her own performances.

Hair/makeup designer Bernard Floch do fantastic work with the looks of Henry and Ann with the former given different haircuts throughout the film with Ann sporting different looks for her shows and at home. Special effects supervisors Thomas Desmet and Arne Normon, with visual effects supervisors Ryan Bardoul, Guillaume Pondard, and Geraldine Thiriart, do terrific work with the film’s visual effects as well as the movements of the puppet in some scenes as well as the design of some of the stage design in some parts of the film. The sound work of Thomas Gauder, Paul Heymans, Katia Boutin, Maxence Dussere, and Erwan Kerzanet is superb in the way objects sound as well as the way some of Henry’s stage performances are presented at a club and the way audiences shout at Henry as it helps add to the atmosphere in those scenes.

The casting by Carmen Cuba, Marjolaine Grandjean, and Mustapha Souaidi is wonderful as it features appearances from Sparks as themselves in the film’s opening scene and as airline pilots as well as small roles from Wim Opbrouck as an announcer for Baby Annette, Belgian singer Angele Van Laeken as one of a group of women accusing Henry of abuse, Rila Fukushima as one of three nurses, and Devyn McDowell as the older Annette with Hebe Griffiths as the singing voice for the puppet version of Annette. Simon Helberg is incredible as the accompanist as a man who often accompanies Ann in her musical performance as he strives to become a composer as he notices Annette’s gift as he helps her flesh it out while having issues with Henry over Annette while carrying a possible secret of his own.

Marion Cotillard is phenomenal as Ann Defrasnoux as an opera singer who is beloved and revered while also being this great mother to Annette as she would also deal with her husband’s faltering career and the events that happened leading to Ann becoming known to the public with Catherine Trottmann being Ann’s soprano singing voice. Finally, there’s Adam Driver in a tremendous performance as Henry McHenry as this provocative stand-up comedian with a dark sense of humor who finds his career in decline as he becomes erratic and selfish where Driver brings a lot of energy to his performance as well as being this calm and emotive singer.

Annette is a spectacular film from Leos Carax and Sparks that features great performances from Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, and Simon Helberg. Along with its dazzling visuals, grand story about art and love, and a phenomenal music soundtrack from Sparks. The film is an unusual yet enthralling rock opera that explores two artists who fall in love and create a child with an exceptional gift that would prove to be their undoing as well as revelations about who they are as people. In the end, Annette is a tremendous film from Leos Carax.

Related: The Auteurs #36: Leos Carax - The Sparks Brothers

Leos Carax Film: Boy Meets Girl - Mauvais Sang - The Lovers on the Bridge - Pola X - Tokyo!-Merde - Holy Motors

© thevoid99 2021

The Auteurs #36: Leos Carax

One of the group of new filmmakers from France to emerge in the 1980s, Leos Carax was someone who marched to the beat of his own drum. While he was a student of the French New Wave, Carax would infuse his own sensibilities to create films that often explored the ideas of love in very strange ways. Especially in different genres while displaying his own love for cinema. Though he only has made a small number of films so far and often make them infrequently due to their lack of commercial potential. He is a filmmaker that is an absolute original in an age where cinema tries to repeat the ideas of the past.

Born Alex Oscar Christophe Dupont in Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine near Paris, France in November 22, 1960, Carax was born to an American mother and a French father. Through his interest in cinema, Dupont would call himself Leos Carax in an anagram of his names Alex and Oscar. Through his writing as a film critic, Carax’s interest in the world of cinema was marked by the films of the French New Wave from the 1960s as he was influenced by the works of Jean-Luc Godard. Especially in Godard’s approach in playing with narrative and creating stories that were very unconventional and offbeat. In 1980, Carax made a short called Strangulation Blues that would explore many of the ideas he would create in his later films such as the ideas of love and some of the dark elements that it would have.

More about this piece can be read here at Cinema Axis.

© thevoid99 2014

Pola X

Based on Herman Melville’s Pierre: or, The Ambiguities, Pola X is the story of a novelist who meets a woman who claims to be his long-lost sister as they begin an incestuous affair. Directed by Leos Carax and screenplay by Carax and Jean-Pol Fargeau, the film is an exploration into the world of incest as well as family roots where a man ponders about his own identity and the secrets involving his family. Starring Guillaume Depardieu, Yekaterina Golubeva, Delphine Chuillot, and Catherine Deneuve. Pola X is an extremely dark yet exhilarating film from Leos Carax.

The film explores the life of a young novelist who once had a life of great promise, despite some of his family’s eccentricities, where he discovers that a woman he has been encountering could be his long-lost sister. This revelation would not only have him question about his identity but his entire life and work in general where he would live into a different lifestyle as he would encounter tragedies as well as despair. Adding to the complication of his life is his sister where the two engage into an incestuous affair that would become the centerpiece of his next novel. It’s a film that plays into a man who is about to have it all but the secrets about his own family life has him questioning what is real and what is fake while meeting this woman from the Balkans who lives a very feral lifestyle as he would move from this carefree yet idyllic lifestyle to something more dreary.

The film’s screenplay definitely takes the ideas of Herman Melville’s story as they would set it in contemporary France where the first act starts off with a look into the life of Pierre (Guillaume Depardieu) who lives in a lavish estate as he shares his inheritance with his mother Marie (Catherine Deneuve) where they have an offbeat relationship where he refers to her as his sister where it implies a bit of incest. Pierre is set to marry Lucie (Delphine Chuillot) as it would complete the idyllic life he leads until he believes he is followed by some strange woman whom he would finally meet on his way to meet Lucie one night as her name is Isabelle (Yekaterina Golubeva) who claims to be his long-lost sister. The second act would be about Pierre and Isabelle living a life that Isabelle knows as Pierre runs away from everything he once knew about as he would drift from place to place as they would eventually find a home in this shelter where artists and those on the fringe of society.

The script explores Pierre questioning the world he once lived in as the estate he lives with his mother would have places where he wonders about some of the rooms he’s never been in. In his first actual meeting with Isabelle, she would tell him through broken-French exactly who she is in this amazing monologue as it adds to the ambiguity of everything he tries to question. Once he would accept his fate in the film’s second act, he would be pushed away by his cousin Thibault (Laurent Lucas) who would later try to destroy him as Pierre is determined to create a new novel. Yet, aspects of his past would return to him in the third act where Lucie would join him as a troubled love triangle between him, Isabelle, and Lucie would complicate things. Especially as questions would emerge about his work in front of the public and the numerous tragedies that he would encounter.

Carax’s direction is definitely stylish in some respects but also has this balance of creating something that does feel very simplistic. Though the film starts off with this very strange montage of planes dropping bombs on cemeteries which is a very offbeat way to open the film as it showcases that not everything is as it seems. Even as the film starts off in a very calm and idyllic manner where everything feels like a world that a fool would want to leave as it’s shot near Normandy. Still, Carax would find ways to have elements of darkness and ambiguities lurking into the first act where Pierre’s first meeting with Isabelle would mark a major shift in the film’s tone. Especially where much of the film would be set in Paris but not in areas that usually defines the city but rather places that feels more like on the fringes.

The film would then become more stylish as the camera work such as some of the crane shots and set pieces become a bit more elaborate. Though there are stylish moments that Carax would present in the film’s first act in the motorcycle scenes. It becomes more apparent as the film progresses where it would include moments that are very dangerous and confrontational. Among them is a very explicit and un-simulated sex scene between Pierre and Isabelle as well as this very surreal dream sequence of the two making love into a river of blood. It would add to this sense of dark fantasy and despair the characters would live in as well as the continuing question of ambiguities and identity that Pierre would endure as it would lead to this very visceral climax. Overall, Carax creates a very unsettling and rapturous film about a man questioning his choices in life and who he is.

Cinematographer Eric Gautier does fantastic work with the film‘s cinematography from the lush yet colorful look of the posh locations in Normandy to the more grimy look of the streets of Paris with its low-key lights and de-saturated look to create something that feels more real and grimy. Editor Nelly Quettier does brilliant work with the film‘s stylish editing with its use of jump-cuts as well as fade-outs and such to create some dizzying montages and moments that would amp up the drama. Production designer Laurent Allaire and set decorator Regine Constant do excellent work with the set pieces from the look of the lavish estate that Pierre lived in to the factory-like home where he and Isabelle would live.

Costume designer Esther Waltz does nice work with the costumes as much of the clothes in the first act has everyone, except for Isabelle, wear white as it would become more ragged as the film progresses. The sound work of Jean-Pierre Laforce, Jean-Louis Ughetto, and Beatrice Wick is amazing for the way some of the mixing and textures sound such as the post-industrial music recorded in the factory as well as some of the film‘s eerie sound effects. The film’s music largely consists of score pieces by Scott Walker that is very ominous and chilling with its mixture of minimalist electronics and orchestral pieces while the soundtrack includes contributions by Smog, Sonic Youth, Fairuz, Nguyen Le, and M. Luobin Wang to play into the crazed world the characters live in.

The casting by Antoinette Boulat Outcast is excellent as it features some notable small roles from Samuel Dupuy as Lucie’s brother Fred, Dine Souli as a cab driver Pierre would argue with in the second act, Sarunas Bartas as leader of the factory home where Pierre and Isabelle would stay at, Miguel Yeco as the estate gamekeeper Augusto, Patachou as Pierre’s agent Marguerite, Petruta Catana as a feral gypsy friend of Isabelle in Razerka, and Mihaella Silaghi as Razerka’s daughter. Laurent Lucas is terrific as Pierre’s cousin Thibault who had feelings for Lucie as he would later isolate him and later try to create a schism over Pierre’s relationship with Isabelle. Delphine Chuillot is fantastic as Lucie as Pierre’s fiancée who is devoted to him as she would join him and Isabelle in their dreary world as she tries to deal with the decisions he would make in his life.

Catherine Deneuve is great as Pierre’s mother Marie as this very eccentric woman who wants to be referred to Pierre as his sister as she watches over his inheritance while becoming bewildered about this sudden decision to leave behind his idyllic life. Yekaterina Golubeva is amazing as Isabelle as this mysterious yet ragged woman who claims to be Pierre’s long-lost sister as she tries to tell him some truth as she is a woman with some great flaws but there’s something entrancing in Golubeva’s performance that makes Isabelle so interesting. Finally, there’s Guillaume Depardieu in a riveting performance as Pierre as this young novelist who goes from being the writer of his generation to being a man who descends into madness as he questions about his identity and choices in his life.

Pola X is a tremendously harrowing yet captivating film from Leos Carax. Armed with great performances from the late Guillaume Depardieu, the late Yekaterina Golubeva, and Catherine Deneuve as well as dazzling visuals. It’s a film that definitely takes the idea of incest and identity to massive extremes as it’s definitely not a film for the faint of heart. In the end, Pola X is a remarkable film from Leos Carax.

Leos Carax Films: Boy Meets Girl - Mauvais Sang - The Lovers on the Bridge - Tokyo!-Merde - Holy Motors - Annette - The Auteurs #36: Leos Carax

© thevoid99 2014

Mauvais Sang

Written and directed by Leos Carax, Mauvais Sang (The Night is Young) is the story of a young man who is asked by two aging thieves to steal a serum for an American crime boss as the young man falls one of the thieves‘ young lover. Set in a futuristic world where young people who make love without any emotions are being killed in a strange epidemic forcing a young man to do something to survive only to fall in love. Starring Denis Lavant, Juliette Binoche, Hans Meyer, Julie Delpy, Carroll Brooks, Hugo Pratt, Mireille Perrier, and Michel Piccoli. Mauvais Sang is a tremendously stylish yet whimsical film from Leos Carax.

In a world that is troubled by an epidemic where young people start to die due sex without emotions, two criminals ask a young man to help steal a serum that will stop this epidemic in order to pay off a debt to an American woman who asks for their help. Yet, things become complicated with the young criminal Alex (Denis Lavant) falls for one of the thieves’ young lover in Anna (Juliette Binoche) who is also part of the caper as she dealing with depression. It’s a film that bends all sorts of genre where writer/director Leos Carax throws away the rule book about what can be told in a crime film as he infuses a lot of elements of sci-fi, romance, and silent comedy into the mix. Notably as it’s about a young man wanting to start a life of his own after the death of his estranged father as he is offered that opportunity. Yet, he is forced to make sacrifices as he leaves his young girlfriend Lise (Julie Delpy) while waiting for the job to happen.

The film’s screenplay has a very loose structure with a lot of stylish dialogue that plays into Alex’s desire for a new life while he helps out Marc (Michel Piccoli) and Hans (Hans Meyer) in retrieving the serum though there are complications as the two men are old and one of them is ill. This forces Alex to spend much of his time with Anna as she is often very melancholic and cries for no reason as Alex would try to cheer her up. Yet, there is confusion as Anna likes Alex but remains devoted to Marc while Alex still thinks about Lise despite the fact that he let a friend of his be with her. That would eventually complicate things when the date of the heist emerges as emotions start to run high as does the stakes.

Carax’s direction is definitely stylish not just in the world that he creates where it’s set in a not-too-distant futuristic world of Paris. Especially as the epidemic that is used for the film serves as an allegory of sorts for the AIDS virus at the time as Carax goes for something that is a bit of a social commentary but also infuses it with ideas that could be set in the future as it relates to sex without emotions. Carax does create some shots that are quite simple and to the point as far as the drama plays out yet there’s also moments where he does aim for a sense of style in the way he places the camera for some of the compositions as well as aim for something that harkens back to all sorts of styles in cinema. Some of which involves silent film scenes where Alex would often do things as if he was a character in a silent movie while the romantic moments between Alex and Anna recall aspects of the French New Wave.

The direction also includes some stylish shots that play into the film’s unconventional presentation such as Alex running around the streets of Paris to David Bowie’s Modern Love as Carax would use a tracking dolly shot to capture Alex’s run through the streets of Paris. There’s also scenes where it is very playful and full of style where it adds to this world that feels very offbeat and almost surreal at times. Especially in the scene where Alex would steal the serum as it has elements of sci-fi but also suspense while its climax would be another ode to the French New Wave films of the 1960s. Overall, Carax crafts a very odd yet exhilarating film about a young man trying to start a new life for himself by becoming a criminal.

Cinematographer Jean-Yves Escoffier does fantastic work with the film‘s cinematography where even though it doesn‘t have a lot of color in its scenery, there are moments where he allows some of the costumes and such to shine while also using some black-and-white footage to be used for stylistic reasons. Editor Nelly Quettier does brilliant work with the editing by emphasizing largely on style with jump-cuts and unconventional frame-speeds to play with its action and drama. Production designers Jacques Dubus, Thomas Peckre, and Michel Vandestien, with set decorator Bernard Leonard, do amazing work with the set pieces from the base that Marc and Hans stay at to plan the heist to some of the exteriors of the buildings where it adds a dream-like feel to the film.

Costume designers Dominique Gregogna, Martine Metert, and Robert Nardone do excellent work with the costumes from the red sweater and blue robe that Anna wears to the yellow leather jacket that Alex wears as it adds to the film‘s unique look. The sound work of Claude Hivernon, Harrik Maury, Henri Morelle, and Joel Riant is superb for some of the sound effects that is created from the way Alex‘s motorcycle sounds to the way some of the objects sound to play into the action and suspense. The film’s wonderful music soundtrack consists of classical pieces by Sergei Prokofiev and Benjamin Britten as well as a score piece from Charles Chaplin and songs by Serge Raggiani and David Bowie as the classical pieces serves as dramatic cues while the Chaplin piece from Limelight is played in a very dazzling sequence where Alex encounters a young mother and her child.

The casting by Helene Bernardin is great for the ensemble that is created as it features some notable small performances from Mireille Perrier as the young mother Alex encounters, Serge Reggiani as Marc and Hans’ friend Charlie, Jerome Zucca as Alex’s friend Thomas, Leos Carax as a peeping tom, Hugo Pratt as the American boss’ muscle Boris, and Carroll Brooks as the American boss who orders Marc and Hans to steal the serum so they can clear their debt. Hans Meyer is excellent as Hans as a criminal who is also a doctor and a man of style as he teaches Alex how to present himself as a criminal. Julie Delpy is amazing as Lise as Alex’s young girlfriend who is in love with him despite her naiveté as she tries to communicate with him while becoming a crucial part of the heist.

Michel Piccoli is brilliant as Marc as an old friend of Alex’s dad who asks Alex for help while dealing with his own issues as an old man as well as the debt that looms over his head. Juliette Binoche is fantastic as Anna as Marc’s young yet melancholic lover who only takes up the job to support Marc while being charmed by Alex as it’s a role that has Binoche be funny as well as maternal. Finally, there’s Denis Lavant in a remarkable performance as Alex as this young criminal who is known for his quick hands as he joins the heist in order to start a new life while dealing with what is at stake as he is also torn for his love for both Anna and Lise as it’s Lavant in one of his best roles to date.

Mauvais Sang is an incredible film from Leos Carax that features outstanding performances from Denis Lavant, Juliette Binoche, Michel Piccoli, and Julie Delpy. The film is definitely one of Carax’s finest films in terms of blending all sorts of genre and make it something unique while also being a tribute to cinema itself. In the end, Mauvais Sang is a phenomenal film from Leos Carax.

Leos Carax Films: Boy Meets Girl - Lovers on the Bridge - Pola X - Tokyo!-Merde - Holy Motors - Annette - The Auteurs #36: Leos Carax

© thevoid99 2014

Boy Meets Girl (1984 film)

Written and directed by Leos Carax, Boy Meets Girl is the story of a unique relationship between an aspiring filmmaker and a suicidal woman as they’re both coping with failed relationships. The film is an exploration of two people dealing with heartbreak as they bond through that while embarking on a relationship with each other. Starring Denis Lavant and Mireille Perrier. Boy Meets Girl is an odd yet captivating film from Leos Carax.

The film is an unconventional story that explores two different people who both get dumped by their lovers and then meet at a party where they share their heartbreak. That is essentially the plot of the film as it’s one where its auteur Leos Carax refuses to delve into any kind of convention as its first half is about Alex (Denis Lavant) and Mireille (Mireille Perrier) both dealing with heartbreak as the former is an aspiring filmmaker trying to make sense of what happened. The latter is a model who has no idea what to do as she wants to get over being dumped. The two would meet at a party that Mireille is invited to as Alex would crash the party by accident where the second half is about the party and that meeting. It is a film that a very unconventional structure where not much happens yet it does play into the idea of loneliness and uncertainty for two people who are ravaged by heartbreak.

Carax’s direction is very stylish not just in the presentation he creates but also in how he starts the film where a woman is driving around with a child as she calls her former lover where she would dump his stuff at the river. It sets the tone for what is to come as Carax doesn’t play by the rules as he would create some very entrancing close-ups and images that are very stylized. Even in the medium and wide shots have something that is engaging to watch in the way Carax plays into this exploration of heartbreak as both Alex and Mirieille are both teetering on the edge. Some of the elements of the party the two attend has this element of surrealism as if they’re in a world that is disconnected from what they’re dealing with. Carax would also create scenes that play into their sense of desperation while adding some ambiguity into their fate. Overall, Carax creates a very strange yet extraordinary film about heartbreak.

Cinematographer Jean-Yves Escoffier does fantastic work with the film‘s black-and-white photography as it adds a unique sense of style for many of the exterior scenes in Paris along with some of its interior lighting schemes to play with the mood of the film. Editors Nelly Meunier and Francine Sandberg do amazing work with the editing as it‘s very offbeat with its approach to jump-cuts and dissolves as some of it is dream-like as well as abrupt. Production designers Jean Bauer and Serge Marzolff do brilliant work with some of the set pieces from the party Alex and Mirieille attend with its very odd look for the kitchen to the apartment that Mirieille lives in.

The sound work of Patrick Genet and Jean Umansky do superb work with the sound from the way some of the things sound on location to the voiceover work that often appears in the film. The film’s music soundtrack consists of songs and music by Serge Gainsbourg, Jo Lemaire, and Jacques Pinalut along with music by the Dead Kennedys and David Bowie as it is wonderful for its mixture of melancholia and angst.

The film’s cast includes some small yet excellent performances from Christian Cloarec as Alex’s best friend Thomas, Elie Pocard as Mirieille’s ex-boyfriend Bernard, Anna Baldaccini as Alex’s ex-girlfriend Florence, and Carroll Brooks in a terrific performance as the offbeat host of the party. Mirieille Perrier is great as the somber Mirieille as this young model who likes to tap dance and listen to punk rock as she tries to deal with her ex-boyfriend and to see is she can really get over him. Denis Lavant is marvelous as Alex as this young aspiring filmmaker who tries to deal with his own heartbreak as well as trying to figure out how to contact his ex and figure out his future. Lavant and Perrier have superb chemistry together in the film’s second half as it showcases their own despair and the hope they might have.

Boy Meets Girl is a remarkable film from Leos Carax that features incredible performances from Denis Lavant and Mirieille Perrier. It’s a film that doesn’t just explore the world of heartbreak but told in a very unconventional manner that makes it very unique as it would display many ideas Carax would use in the years to come. In the end, Boy Meets Girl is a phenomenal film from Leos Carax.

Leos Carax Films: Mauvais Sang - Lovers on the Bridge - Pola X - Tokyo!-Merde - Holy Motors - Annette - The Auteurs #36: Leos Carax

© thevoid99 2014

2013 Blind Spot Series: The Lovers on the Bridge

Written and directed by Leos Carax, Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (The Lovers on the Bridge) is the story about a drug-addicted street performer and a nearly-blind painter who meet and fall in love as they live in Pont-Neuf bridge as it’s being closed for repairs during the French Bicentennial. The film is an ambitious tale that revolves the lives of two outsiders who are dependent on each other as they live in a world that is ever changing. Starring Juliette Binoche and Denis Lavant. Les Amants du Pont-Neuf is a majestic yet exhilarating film from Leos Carax.

The film is a simple love story set in Paris at the Pont-Neuf bridge where it’s being closed for repairs during the French Bicentennial. Yet, the characters in this film in a street performer in Alex (Denis Lavant) and a painter in Michele (Juliette Binoche) are anything but simple characters as they’re two people on the fringe of society who are both lost as they find home in the ruined Pont-Neuf bridge which they share with a former guard named Hans (Klaus-Michael Gruber). The two do whatever to survive as they use the bridge as their home while not wanting to be part of a world that is filled with all of these expectations on how to live and such. For Alex, he’s just a street performer who needs downers to sleep as he has no interest to be part of society. In Michele, she’s a painter who is going blind with a bandage on her left eye as she is dealing with heartbreak of her own.

Leos Carax’s screenplay doesn’t follow any specific formulas about the idea of two people falling in love. Instead, it is more about these two people who don’t really know each other as they have nowhere else to go except this old bridge that is set to be repaired. The Pont-Neuf bridge isn’t just a character but a metaphor for how chaotic their life had become as they along with the bridge are in need of help. Still, they’re drawn together by their sense of alienation as well as the fact that they need each other as Alex needs someone to be with while Michele needs Alex as she is going blind. Throughout the course of the story, they act out during the Bicentennial as well as observing the world outside of the bridge. The love between them grows but there’s various complications that keeps them from being together as Michele is quite secretive about her life while Alex is dishonest and very destructive.

Carax’s direction is very stylish in not just the ambition that he aims for but also playing up a world that is quite chaotic in the middle of a ruined bridge in Paris. Though the film is actually set in Lansargues with a bridge built on a lake, it does give the idea that it’s being shot at the actual Pont-Neuf bridge. While some of Carax’s compositions are simple with its close-ups and medium shots, he does use a lot of tracking and steadicam to capture some of the livelier moments such as the extravagant Bicentennial celebration where Alex and Michele dance to all sorts of music and later steal a boat so that Michele can water ski on the Seine River. There are also chilling moments in the film’s third act where Alex takes action to protect Michele as she is being pursued as it plays to some very dark moments. Even as it would feature a climax that plays into what they’ve become as well as the idea about their love for each other. Overall, Carax creates a grand yet wild film about love and defiance.

Cinematographer Jean-Yves Escoffier does amazing work with the film‘s cinematography with the look of Paris in day and night along with the use of lights on the bridge as well as some stylish lights for some of the film‘s interiors. Editor Nelly Quettier does brilliant work with the editing as it has some element of styles with the use of jump-cuts and dissolves to play up some of its energy along with some rhythmic cuts for the suspenseful moments. Production designer Michel Vandestien, along with set decorator Irene Galitzine and art director Franck Schwarz, is fantastic for not just the recreation of the Pont-Neuf bridge and its surroundings along with some other set pieces including the museum Michele and Hans go into.

Costume designer Robert Nardone does nice work with the costumes as it‘s all ragged to play up the chaotic world of the characters. Sound editors Gilbert Courtois and Nadine Muse do superb work with the sound from some of the exterior surroundings to some of the intimate moments in some of the film’s interior scenes. The film’s soundtrack consists a lot of music ranging from classical pieces by Avro Part and other composers to contemporary music from David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Les Rita Mitsouko, and Public Enemy.

The film’s cast largely consists of appearances and small performance as it includes Chrichan Larsson as Michele’s former boyfriend Julian and Klaus-Michael Gruber as the vagrant Hans who has reasons for his dislike towards Michele as is also a man dealing with his own sense of loss. The film’s best performances definitely goes to both Juliette Binoche and Denis Lavant in their respective roles as Michele and Alex. Binoche brings a radiance and energy to a woman that is lost as she is dealing with a disease as well as being very secretive. Lavant is more outgoing in his performance as a street performer while being quite brutish at times. Binoche and Lavant have a fiery chemistry that is just engaging to watch as they are among one of the film’s major highlights.

Les Amants du Pont-Neuf is a magnificent film from Leos Carax that features incredible performances from Juliette Binoche and Denis Lavant. While it’s an unconventional love story, it’s one that is full of excitement and power as well as being a captivating story about alienation and defying the status quo. In the end, Les Amants du Pont-Neuf is an outstanding film from Leos Carax.

Leos Carax Films: Boy Meets Girl - Mauvais Sang - Pola X - Tokyo!: Merde - Holy Motors - Annette - The Auteurs #36: Leos Carax

© thevoid99 2013

Holy Motors

Written and directed by Leos Carax, Holy Motors is the story about a man who travels throughout Paris inhabiting many personalities in the course of a day. The film is an unconventional story that revolves around cinema and a man changing from one personality to another in order to play a role in what is needed in life. Starring Denis Lavant, Eva Mendes, Edith Scob, Michel Piccoli, Elise L’Homeau, and Kylie Minogue. Holy Motors is a strange yet intoxicating film from Leos Carax.

The film is essentially the story about a man named Mr. Oscar (Denis Lavant) who spends his entire day inhabiting many personalities as part of his job. In this day, he spends his time in many different stories in very different genres as if he’s recreating moments or doing something as part of his job. In these different assignments, he meets various people in the course of a day as he’s often accompanied by his driver Celine (Edith Scob). It’s all part of a world that Leos Carax is creating where it blends fiction and reality where nothing is as it seems. Particularly as he transcends many different genres from comedy, romance, musical, film noir, the gangster film, and everything else in between for what is certainly an unconventional story.

Part of Carax’s approach to the screenplay is the fact that it doesn’t have a structure nor does it reveal anything into whether or not this story about a man inhabiting many personalities is real. Especially as the film opens with a different man (Leos Carax) opening a door in his apartment to enter a cinema where the audience is watching King Vidor’s The Crowd. It adds to the ambiguity that is part of this story where it asks many questions into what is happening. Is Mr. Oscar playing these personalities to fill something that is lost in the world? Are these personalities that the people encounter all part of an act or to create something shocking? Are the people part of the act that is happening?

These are the many questions that is happening in the course of the film as its narrative is approach in an episodic manner. Yet, it works as each personality that Mr. Oscar plays does manage to get people up in the air as the moments start to become more overwhelming and much crazier. Notably as there’s brief breaks where Mr. Oscar has to do something where it adds more question to the job that he’s doing. It’s all part of the schematics that Carax is creating where he raises the stakes for each adventure that Mr. Oscar is encountering. What become more intriguing as the story progresses is the people he’s meeting where they could be part of this strange agency.

Carax’s direction is definitely stylish in terms of the presentation that he’s creating for the film. Shot largely on location in Paris and nearby towns, it’s a world where things aren’t very real where it’s all about the world these personalities inhabit such as a gravesite, a film studio, an abandoned hotel, a suburb, and all sorts of places. Part of which takes place inside a big limousine where Oscar does all of his makeup work and prepares for each assignment he takes part on during the day. Carax has a stylish intimacy for these scenes where it feels large but also small at times while Mr. Oscar is always looking at a TV screen where he talks to Celine. Celine’s role is really that of a companion who ensures that he does his job and returns to his limo as she often shows maternal concern for him.

Since this is a film where reality doesn’t really exist, it’s also a film that features a lot of references to films as it is in some ways a tribute to cinema. In the middle of the film, there’s a break where Mr. Oscar plays the accordion with a bunch of musicians as a camera follows them in a tracking shot where they’re playing inside a church. It’s part of that idea of what cinema once was where there is a lot of fantasy and everyone is playing something. There’s also an element of the musical where it is clear that Carax is aiming for something that harkens back to times when cinema was about a whole lot more. Largely as Carax employs a lot of stylistic shots to create something big as Paris itself is a character in the film. Overall, Carax creates a very exhilarating yet strange spectacle that is a real love letter to cinema.

Cinematographers Caroline Champetier and Yves Cape do excellent work with the film‘s very stylish photography from the colorful look of the locations in Paris in day and night to some of the more weirder shots to explore Mr. Oscar‘s troubled mind. Editor Nelly Quetier does brilliant work with the editing by utilizing lots of stylish cuts to play with the film‘s rhythm as well as creating unique transitions for the film to move from one story to another. Production designer Florian Sanson and art director Emmanuelle Cuillery do amazing work with the set pieces in the film such as the limousine that Mr. Oscar lives in to some of the places like the abandoned hotel, the studio set, and the cave that his personalities inhabit.

Costume designer Anais Romand does wonderful work with the different costumes that Mr. Oscar wears along with some of the clothes of the people he encounters in his journey. Hair and makeup designer Bernard Floch does terrific work with the hair and makeup work that Mr. Oscar puts into all of the personalities he creates. Visual effects supervisors Yoann Berger and Alexandre Bon do nice work with some of the film‘s minimal visual effects which is most notable in the motion-capture scene that Mr. Oscar participates in. The sound work of Emmanuel Croset and Erwan Kerzanet is superb for the atmosphere it creates in the different locations that occur as well as the intimacy in the limousine.

The film’s soundtrack features an array of different music ranging from classical pieces by Dmitri Shostakovich, a score piece from the movie Godzilla by Akira Ifukube, and other music pieces by R.L. Burnside, Manset, Sparks, and Kylie Minogue. Minogue also sings an original song written by Leos Carax and Neil Hannon that is for the film’s lone musical number as it serves as a great tribute to cinema.

The casting by Elsa Pharaon is phenomenal for the small ensemble that is created as it features noteworthy performances from Jeanne Disson as a troubled teenager, Elisse L’Homeau as a nurse caring for her uncle, Geoffrey Carey as an obsessed photographer, Annabelle Dexter-Jones as the photographer’s assistant, and Leos Carax as the mysterious man in the film’s opening scene. Michel Piccoli is excellent in a small but memorable performance as a man who is probably Mr. Oscar’s boss as he questions about the status of his appointments. Eva Mendes is wonderful as a model that one of Mr. Oscar’s characters is infatuated by where Mendes is mesmerizing. Kylie Minogue is terrific as the mysterious Jean who joins Mr. Oscar in a very memorable scene where she sings a song.

Edith Scob is amazing as Mr. Oscar’s limo driver Celine as she makes sure he comes back from his appointments while worrying about his well-being after each assignment. Finally, there’s Denis Lavant in an incredible performance as Mr. Oscar and the many personalities he inhabits. It’s a truly riveting performance that has Lavant take on so many things including the Mr. Merde character that he played in the Merde segment in the anthology film Tokyo! It’s also a performance that allows Lavant to showcase his range from comedy, drama, and all sorts of things as it’s definitely one for the ages.

Holy Motors is an outstanding film from Leos Carax that features triumphant performances from Denis Lavant and Edith Scob. Along with top-notch supporting work from Kylie Minogue, Eva Mendes, and Michel Piccoli, it’s a film that is truly a true love-letter to the art of cinema as well as a film that dares to be unconventional and uncompromising without giving any kind of answers or meaning. In the end, Holy Motors is an extraordinary yet out-of-this-world film from Leos Carax.

Leos Carax Films: Boy Meets Girl - Mauvais Sang - Les Amants du Pont-Neuf - Pola X - Tokyo!: Merde - Annette - The Auteurs #36: Leos Carax

© thevoid99 2012

Tokyo!

Tokyo! is an omnibus film by three different filmmakers about the city of Tokyo for three different stories. For this film, non-Japanese directors were employed as Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, and Bong Joon-ho provide their own different stories set in Tokyo. Starring Ayako Fujitani, Ryo Kase, Ayumi Ito, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Denis Lavant, Jean-Francois Balmer, Julie Dreyfus, Teruyuki Kagawa, Yu Aoi, and Natao Takenaka. Tokyo! is an extraordinary ominbus from the trio of Gondry, Carax, and Joon-ho.

Interior Design (Written and directed by Michel Gondry, based on the short story comic Cecil & Jordan in New York by Gabrielle Bell).

Hiroko (Ayako Fujitani) and Akira (Ryo Kase) have arrived in Japan to stay at the home of their friend Akemi (Ayumi Ito) for the first screening of Akira’s first film. The couple is also looking for an apartment while dealing with low money and parking tickets prompting Akira to take a job. For Hiroko, she finds herself not really doing anything and trying to find an apartment as their car has been impounded. With the screening for Akira’s film happening, Hiroko ponders her own existence as something strange happens to her in her moment of despair.

Merde (Written and directed by Leos Carax)

A strange man (Denis Lavant) comes out of the sewers to wreak havoc and terrorize people as many wonder who he is and what is he doing. After more chaos that led to the deaths of many, the man is captured with no one able to understand him. A French lawyer named Maitre Voland (Jean-Francois Balmer) arrives to Japan to communicate with the man as a trial is set to happen. Yet, the trial becomes a media circus as the man’s statement of hate divides people as he is to be sentenced to death by hanging if found guilty.

Shaking Tokyo (Written and directed by Bong Joon-ho)

A hikikomori (Teruyuki Kagawa) is living a life of isolation has he hasn’t left his apartment for a decade with his telephone being the only outside link so he can order food with the money he has. One day, he makes his first eye contact in a decade to a beautiful young woman (Yu Aoi) who is delivering pizza as an earthquake happens and she faints in his apartment. Though he was able to revive her, she leaves as he yearns to see her again. When a new pizza delivery man (Natao Takenaka) reveals that she quit, the man seeks to find her as he goes outside for the first time in a decade.

The film is essentially about three different stories all set in Tokyo for each director to create their own forty-minute story about things happening in Tokyo. For those three filmmakers, they each get a chance to put their own stamp about life in Tokyo from their own perspective. In Michel Gondry’s short, it’s about a woman whose attempt to help her filmmaker boyfriend in finding an apartment and to help him is a mixture of Gondry’s whimsical humor but also with bits of light-drama that includes his own quirky visual style. Leos Carax’s film is a comedy about a man wreaking havoc creating a state of anarchy as he’s put on trial in a film that is dark but also very humorous. Bong Joon-Ho’s short is a more dramatic piece about the world of the hikikomori in this touching tale of isolation and longing.

The shorts that each filmmaker creates adds to the beauty that is Tokyo and its people as the stories that Gondry, Carax, and Joon-Ho create from an outsider perspective allows the audience to be engaged by these stories. With the characters they present through the different locations in Tokyo, the three filmmakers create a film that is truly spellbinding and imaginative. Whereas most omnibus and anthology films tend to have segments that are great and some that aren’t, this film manages to do more by actually having three great segments that combines into one dazzling film.

The cinematography by Masami Inomoto (Interior Design), Caroline Champetier (Merde), and Jun Fukumoto (Shaking Tokyo) each has a distinctive yet grainy look to the film but they also allow themselves to add their own elements to each segment. Inomoto brings in more stylish look to the coloring for Gondry’s segment while Champetier adds something much darker to the look of the trial scenes in Carax’s segment. Yet, it’s Fukumoto who stands out with a more sunnier yet lush look for many of the interior settings in Joon-Ho’s segment. The editing of Nelly Quettier for Carax’s segment is the most stylish for its jump-cuts and multiple split-screen segments. Cedric Fayolle’s visual effects work for the segments by Gondry and Carax is superb as he creates a wonderful look to a transformation sequence in Gondry’s segment while providing some explosive stuff for Carax’s segment.

The production design work Hiroshi Hayashida for Gondry’s segment is among the best of the three for its claustrophobic look in the apartment while Mitsuo Harada’s work in the Carax segment doesn’t include much except for the cave that the stranger lives in. The set pieces for Joon-Ho’s segment by Toshihiro Isomi is wonderfully stylish for its stack of pizza boxes, books, and various objects. Paul Hsu’s sound work in Gondry’s segment is very good for capturing the chaotic atmosphere that is Tokyo. The music of Etienne Charry for Gondry’s segment and the original music of Byung-woo Lee for the rest each provide some wonderful moments for the film. Charry adds a sense of whimsy to Gondry’s piece while Lee provides some more ominous pieces for Joon-Ho’s segment with a more comical piece for Carax’s score.

The casting is excellent as the film includes some small but notable appearances that include Satoshi Tsumabuki as a businessman that Akira meets in Interior Design, Julie Dreyfus as a interpreter in Merde, and Naoto Takenaka as the pizza delivery man in Shaking Tokyo. In the Interior Design segment, Ayumi Ito provides a very good performance as Akemi, a friend of Hiroko who tries to help her while Ryo Kase is also good as Hiroko’s ambitious filmmaking boyfriend Akira. Ayako Fujitani is brilliant as Hiroko as a young woman lost in a world of ambition and trying to find something as she feels useless in her life. In Merde, Jean-Francois Balmer is very funny as the lawyer while Denis Lavant is great as the strange creature who wreaks havoc upon everyone. In Shaking Tokyo, Yu Aoi is wonderful as an eccentric yet shy pizza delivery girl while Teruyuki Kagawa is phenomenal as the equally shy yet secretive man living as a total recluse.

Tokyo! is a charming and exhilarating omnibus film from the trio of Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, and Bong Joon-Ho. Fans of these filmmakers will no doubt enjoy the shorts they make while it also offers something for those new to the omnibus/anthology films. It’s a film that proves what omnibus films can do when its filmmakers are each on the same page about how to make all their material into one great package. In the end, Tokyo! is an extraordinary film that features some of the best work of Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, and Bong Joon-ho.

Michel Gondry Films: Human Nature - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Dave Chappelle’s Block Party - The Science of Sleep - Be Kind Rewind - (The Thorn in the Heart) - The Green Hornet - The We & the I - Mood Indigo - (Is the Man Who is Tall Happy?) - (Microbe & Gasoline)

Leos Carax Films: Boy Meets Girl - Mauvais Sang - Les Amants du Pont-Neuf - Pola X - Holy Motors - Annette - The Auteurs #36: Leos Carax

Bong Joon-ho Films: Barking Dogs Never Bite - Memories of Murder - The Host - Mother - Snowpiercer - Okja - Parasite - Mickey 17 - The Auteurs #44: Bong Joon-ho

© thevoid99 2011