Leos Carax

Discussion and info on people in film, ranging from directors to actors to cinematographers to writers.
Message
Author
User avatar
whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

#26 Post by whaleallright » Thu May 24, 2012 7:20 pm

Yes, I would say so. Knowing something of your tastes, I suspect you will love Boy Meets Girl, at the least.

By the way, does anyone know if copies of Pierre, ou les ambiguïtés--the multi-part version of Pola X shown on European TV around 2000--are "out there"? I've yet to find one, but Jean-Michel Frodon and others have claimed that the lengthier version is superior.

User avatar
Oedipax
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:48 am
Location: Atlanta

Re: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

#27 Post by Oedipax » Thu May 24, 2012 8:21 pm

Wow, I never knew there was a longer cut of Pola X. It might be my favorite Carax actually.

User avatar
carax09
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 2:22 am
Location: This almost empty gin palace

Re: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

#28 Post by carax09 » Thu May 24, 2012 8:24 pm

Hot damn! It's news to me, as well.

User avatar
John Edmond
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2010 8:35 pm

Re: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

#29 Post by John Edmond » Thu May 24, 2012 8:52 pm

Thirded, what the?

Mathew2468
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2012 4:40 pm

Re: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

#30 Post by Mathew2468 » Thu May 24, 2012 9:40 pm

Jeepers, sez here it's 3 hours and Carax' preferred cut. The linked article is no longer there though, but look:

http://www.harmony-korine.com/forum/vie ... ?f=2&t=696

User avatar
John Edmond
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2010 8:35 pm

Re: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

#31 Post by John Edmond » Thu May 24, 2012 9:58 pm

And IMDB list it as well, three one-hour episodes.

User avatar
whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

#32 Post by whaleallright » Fri May 25, 2012 10:46 am

Apparently, there is a VHS copy of the three-hour Pierre at the Universität Hildesheim in Germany, presumably subbed in German.

The three parts are subtitled "Zum Licht," "Im Schatten des Lichts," and "Im Blut."

User avatar
whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

#33 Post by whaleallright » Fri May 25, 2012 4:27 pm

Also (and particular attention David Hare) just to demonstrate that Carax has impeccable taste, here is a list of films that he programmed to accompany a Cinémathèque Française retrospective in 2004:

- Today We Live (Hawks)
- By the Bluest of Seas (Barnet)
- The Devil, Probably (Bresson)
- Kagaaz ke Phool ("Paper Flowers," Dutt)
- The Crowd (Vidor)
- France/tour/détour/deux/enfants (Godard and Miéville)
- Gertrud (Dreyer)
- You Only Live Once (Lang)
- Floating Clouds (Naruse)
- Whispering Pages (Sokurov)
- La Petite Lise (Grémillon)
- Heaven's Gate (Cimino)
- Design for Living (Lubitsch)
- The American Soldier (Fassbinder)
- The Struggle (Griffith)

roujin
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:16 am

Re: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

#34 Post by roujin » Sat May 26, 2012 1:09 am

Love that Carax digs Guru Dutt.

User avatar
colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

#35 Post by colinr0380 » Sat May 26, 2012 6:58 am

david hare wrote:Nice. I only don't know Paper Flowers but will find forthwith.

I've now watched Les Amants and I'm already in love with Lavant's joyous erection.
Just wait until you get to this!

Paper Flowers often gets added to the list of great films about filmmaking. I like some of Dutt's other films like Mr and Mrs '55 (screwball comedy) or Aar-Paar (film noir) just as much, but Paper Flowers is really beautiful, excessive and theatrical yet also moving. No wonder Carax likes it!

User avatar
Cold Bishop
Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 9:45 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Re: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

#36 Post by Cold Bishop » Sat May 26, 2012 7:12 am

Unfortunately, I don't think Paper Flowers currently exists, outside the actual film prints, in its proper AR. The above widescreen is fake, a crop within a crop. It's the one thing that's kept me from watching, although I may bite the bullet.

User avatar
whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

#37 Post by whaleallright » Sat May 26, 2012 8:18 am

The one film one there that gives me pause is Heaven's Gate. But it's important to know that Carax was both a rat de la Cinémathèque and a contributor to Cahiers du cinéma as a very young man, and his love for Cimino's film is in keeping with that magazine putting their weight behind other films maudits.

If I'm not mistaken a widescreen, color version of Paper Flowers was recently restored, but no DVD as yet. Older Indian films, outside of a few titles by Ray and (more recently) Kaul, are in a sorry state when it comes to preservation and home-video release. If anyone does end up purchasing a copy of Paper Flowers, I'd get the Yash Raj DVD (in their "Classics" line I believe), under its Hindi title, Kaagaz ke phool--the aspect ratio is incorrect, but at least the picture quality is acceptable and, even more important, the song lyrics are subtitled. You probably won't get a chance to see it any other way.

Anyway, there's this film, Holy Motors. Will it win a belated Palme for our hero?
Last edited by whaleallright on Wed May 30, 2012 6:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Cold Bishop
Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 9:45 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Re: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

#38 Post by Cold Bishop » Sat May 26, 2012 4:14 pm

jonah.77 wrote:The one film one there that gives me pause is Heaven's Gate. But it's important to know that Carax was both a rat de la Cinémathèque and a contributor to Cahiers du cinéma as a very young man, and his love for Cimino's film is in keeping with that magazine putting their weight behind other films maudits.
It makes perfect sense to me. Beyond the fact that its a masterpiece and perhaps the greatest American film of the decade, Carax certainly should be able to relate: the massive folly and failure of Les amants du Pont-Neuf has followed Carax around much like Heaven's Gate has Cimino, dogging him and leaving him unable to raise proper funding for his work. The whole reason for Holy Motors was to prove he can shoot something quick and cheap while still retaining all his power.

Contrast this with Cimino, who has spent the last decade trying to get funding for a thoroughly noncommercial epic: Andre Malraux's Man's Fate (although if such a project was to ever be funded, it would certainly be right now, when Hollywood and China are seeking coproduction with one another).

User avatar
zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

#39 Post by zedz » Sun May 27, 2012 4:47 pm

david hare wrote:Like Finch (here we go again) I'ma Carax virgin but my interest is definitely piqued by HM. So I've started to gather things. What's the best start? Chronological??
Definitely. Boy Meets Girl is one of the few modern French films that seems directly inspired by late 20s / early 30s Gremillon, Epstein, Kirsanov and Vigo, so even if it weren't his first feature, that would be my recommendation for you. Vigo remains a constant influence for Carax (maybe even a patron saint), but he rifles through French film history quite promiscuously in the next two films, with Mauvais Sang as perhaps his Nouvelle vague film. By the time of Pola X, his influences are less playfully apparent, though I think that film doesn't hit the same heights as the others for various reasons, even though it's arguably a 'purer' Carax film.

Let us know what you think, anyway.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

#40 Post by domino harvey » Sun May 27, 2012 4:59 pm

The discussion piqued my interest as well

User avatar
zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

#41 Post by zedz » Sun May 27, 2012 5:08 pm

For you, domino, I'd recommend starting with Mauvais sang.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Leos Carax

#42 Post by domino harvey » Sun May 27, 2012 7:20 pm

A correction: The R1 Les Amants du Pont Neuf was first Buena Vista, which is OOP and was brought back earlier this year as a MOD DVD-R by Lionsgate via Amazon (I warned about the practice a few weeks ago-- it's tricky as they appear to have identical UPCs!)

User avatar
zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: Leos Carax

#43 Post by zedz » Sun May 27, 2012 10:04 pm

Thanks domino, that's definitely something people should be aware of if they try to order it.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Leos Carax

#44 Post by domino harvey » Sun May 27, 2012 10:29 pm

One trick that might work is buying the Buena Vista title new from a third party seller. I obviously can't vouch for every title or guarantee success, but I've managed to find a few OOP BV titles in regular DVD format at a more reasonable price because the Amazon DVD-R has brought the demand down and the seller doesn't know the difference when listing (or, as the case may be, has updated the price for their old listing without bothering to check the content)

User avatar
rockysds
Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 11:25 am
Location: Denmark

Re: Leos Carax

#45 Post by rockysds » Mon May 28, 2012 3:07 am

The short Sans titre is available on this English-friendly French release of Pola X.

User avatar
Yojimbo
Joined: Fri Jul 04, 2008 10:06 am
Location: Ireland

Re: Leos Carax

#46 Post by Yojimbo » Mon May 28, 2012 10:33 am

I've yet to see a Carax film, though I picked up that box-set, dirt-cheap, a couple of years back. Its certainly overdue an investigation (as is that early Von Trier box-set, which is probably sitting under similar layers of dust).

User avatar
colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Leos Carax

#47 Post by colinr0380 » Mon May 28, 2012 1:46 pm


User avatar
zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: Leos Carax

#48 Post by zedz » Mon May 28, 2012 3:46 pm

That clip reminds me that it's almost a tragedy to have to watch that film on a small screen.

User avatar
prokosch
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 7:06 am
Location: loin du vietnam

Re: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)

#49 Post by prokosch » Mon May 28, 2012 5:32 pm

colinr0380 wrote:Just wait until you get to this!
I don't say this terribly liberally, but that scene tops the charts for me in terms of single scenes in cinema that irrevocably changed me forever. I don't exaggerate when I say I went fully slack-jawed the first, second and third times that I saw it.

User avatar
whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: Leos Carax

#50 Post by whaleallright » Mon May 28, 2012 7:34 pm

FWIW the shocking, psuedo-documentary opening of Les Amants du Pont-Neuf is a pretty evident homage to the lengthy first scene of Grémillon's La Petite Lise.

Post Reply