While it's probably still slightly too early to begin talking about what films will be headed to Cannes in May, one film that almost seems a certainty at this point is Leos Carax's "Holly Motors." Carax has already presented a film in competition with "Pola X" in 1999 and won Award For The Youth in 1984 for “Boy Meets Girl.” But whether it makes the Croisette or not, this is still one of the more intriguing arthouse prospects of the year.
The film brings together an eclectic cast including Eva Mendes and pop star Kylile Minogue in a story that will center around Dennis Lavant, spending 24 hours in the day of a man who travels between different lives ranging from a murderer to a corporate executive to a monstrous creature. Which brings us to the last image below, which yes, looks exactly like a still from the omnibus "Tokyo!" But this image was included in the batch over at sales company The Wild Bunch's website (who have the title as "Holy Motors") and unless someone made a grievous error, it appears that at least for some portion of the film, the character Lavant played in the Carax segment of that film, is being reprised here. Meanwhile, IMDB has a couple more set photos of Mendes in some kind of archery get up, which seems to suggest the actors are playing multiple characters (and/or traveling through time or attending a costume party).
There are still many questions to be answered about this mysterious project, but we'll hopefully find out more sooner rather than later. Here's the official synopsis:
We follow 24 hours in the life of a being (DL) moving from life to life like a cold and solitary assassin moving from hit to hit. In each of these interwoven lives, the being possesses an entirely distinct identity: sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, sometimes youthful, sometimes old to the point of dying; sometimes destitute, sometimes wealthy. By turns murderer, beggar, company chairman, monstrous creature, worker, family man…
It's clear that DL is playing roles, and plunging headfirst into each – but where are the cameras, the crew, the director? He seems horribly alone, exhausted from being chained to all these lives that are not his, from having to kill enemies that are not his enemies, having to embrace wives and children who are not his. But sometimes, conversely, we feel DL is wounded by having to leave, the moment his scene is over, other beings he would have liked to leave no longer.
Where is his home, his family, his rest?
