Holy Motors Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Holy Motors Blu-ray Movie Review

Note: this is the uncensored version of HOLY MOTORS that contains some frontal male nudity. Viewer discretion is advised.

This is the third major release on Blu-ray of Leos Carax's Holy Motors (2012). My colleagues covered the first two. You can read more about the film by consulting Dr. Svet Atanasov's review of Artificial Eye's disc and Jeff Kauffman's critique of Indomina Releasing's edition.

Performance artists attract each other.

Holy Motors Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shout Select's uncensored version of Holy Motors comes on an MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. The Artificial Eye employed the MPEG-4 codec on a BD- 50 while Indomina used the antiquated MPEG-2, which was put on a BD-25. Both releases came out in 2013 and while I don't have the AE handy for comparison, I surmise that this is the same transfer. As Svet notes in his review, the picture was shot with the Red Epic Camera. Detail stands out the most during daylight scenes (see Screenshot #s 2, 6, and 24). Nighttime shots and underground scenes show decent depth. Shout has encoded the feature at an average video bitrate of 27992 kbps.

Shout gives the 116-minute movie twelve scene selections.

Holy Motors Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout has supplied a French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround track (3445 kbps, 24-bit) and a downsampled French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo mix (2025 kbps, 24-bit). I focused on the 5.1 mix for this review. Indomina incorporated a lossy 5.1 track on its release while AE employed DTS-HD MA 5.1. The sound design has a wonderful ambience that will probably be better appreciated on subsequent viewings. I echo Svet and Jeff's comments that dialogue is very clean. Carax uses a diverse selection of preexisting music by Dmitri Shostakovich, Gérard Manset, and rock duo Sparks. There are diegetic songs performed by Kylie Minogue ("Can't Get You Out of My Head" and "Who Were We?"). My favorite piece in the film is "Let My Baby Ride" co-written by the late American blues singer and guitarist R.L. Burnside. Doctor L had adapted it using primarily accordions and the performances by Denis Levant, et al. provide a festive interlude.

The English subtitles (see screen capture #s 4 and 28) can't be switched off.

Holy Motors Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Shout consolidates the earlier extras that appeared on the Artificial Eye and Indomina editions. It adds discussions of the film courtesy of the New York Film Festival and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. The only supplement missing is an 18-minute interview with Denis Levant, which is exclusive to French-based Potemkine Films' Region B Blu-ray.

• Conversation with Leos Carax at the 2012 Festival del Film Locarno (1:05:52, 1080p) - this press conference was called when it was announced that Carax was the recipient of the Swisscom Leopard of Honour prize at the 65th Locarno Film Festival. Carox speaks about what cinema is to him, the simplicity of Holy Motors (as he sees it), and more general topics. After opening questions from the moderator, he takes several from the audience. He addresses comparisons to Cosmopolis (2012), Mauvais sang (a long discussion question), the state of contemporary French cinema, Serge Daney, working with Edith Scob, and many other topics. The discussion is full of Carax's philosophical musings. While the setting is Switzerland, the discussion is mostly in French, subitled in English. Two questions are asked in English and Carax answers in the same language.

• Drive-In: The Making of HOLY MOTORS (47:30, 1080p) - Tessa Louise-Salomé's making-of doc presents interviews with cinematographer Caroline Champetier, writer/director Leos Carax, as well as actors Denis Lavant and Kylie Minogue. The filmmakers and actors comment on particular scenes in the film. There's also shots of the orchestra performing pieces from the sound track. The program shows a fair amount of behind- the-scenes footage and the French dialogue has been subtitled into English. With the exception of Minogue, who speaks in English, all other interviewees deliver their remarks in French, which are subtitled in English.

• "Merde" Segment from the 2008 Feature Film Tokyo! (38:25, 1080p) - Tokyo! (2008) is a triptych with three separate sketches directed by Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, and Bong Joon Ho. Shout only includes Carax's piece, "Merde." Svet reviewed US-based label Liberation Entertainment's 2009 BD-50, which uses the MPEG-2 codec. That release features a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 Surround mix. Shout has the superior MPEG-4 AVC-encoded video but with only Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (192 kbps). "Merde" was shot on an HD camera using DivX. Both releases present the short in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Shout encodes the video at a mean video bitrate of 12071 kbps. There are compulsory subtitles in English. It's particularly appropriate that it's on this Holy Motors disc since Denis Levant portrays the creature from the sewer (nicknamed "Merde" by the press), a role he'd play again in Holy Motors. In some ways, the segment "Merde" is even bolder than the later feature. An outstanding work from Carax.

• NEW Leos Carax at the 2012 New York Film Festival: Introduction / Q&A (22:34, 1080i) - Rose Kuo, the then-Executive Director at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, introduces Carax. The French auteur describes Holy Motors using a few terms as part of his intro. Kuo asks Carax about his "sketch" process, collaborating with the late cinematographer Jean-Yves Escoffier, filming inside a limousine, his would-be career as a musician, and his creative partnership with Denis Levant. Attendees asked Carax about his favorite appointment for Levant's character, the origins of cinema that Holy Motors pays homage to, why he included apes in a scene, among other questions. Carax speaks in English, not subtitled.

• NEW Leos Carax at the 2012 New York Film Festival: Press Conference (26:10, 1080i) - Shout has mislabeled this a "Press Conference." A much better title would be "Moderator and Audience Questions." This is a post-screening of Holy Motors. The unidentified moderator asks Carax about the process of writing the script, the film's time aspect and memory, shooting in digital vs. film, and his strictly working relationship with Denis Levant. There wasn't a microphone available to go around for audience questions so it's a little hard to hear what's asked. However, the moderator repeats several for Carax. The director takes a diverse bunch of questions, including the movie's references to novelist Henry James and Georges Franju. Carax speaks in English, not subtitled.

• Interview with Actress Kylie Minogue (13:26, 1080p) - Minogue touches on her familiarity with Leos Carax's work before Holy Motors, meeting and working with the director, acting opposite Denis Levant, performing the song she sings, and her reaction to first seeing Holy Motors. The off-screen interviewer and Minogue speak in English, not subtitled.

• Deleted Scenes (8:36, 1080p) - four alternate and omitted scenes (including one outtake): "Mr Merde and Kay M part ways," "Master of the invisible camera," "Kylie a cappella,"and "Mr. Oscar and Denis." They're displayed in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (192 kbps). Except for Eva Grace singing a cappella, all words are spoken in French with auto-generated subtitles where needed.

• U.S. Theatrical Trailer (2:35, 1080p) - the Indomina Group's American trailer for Holy Motors presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (192 kbps). The French dialogue is subtitled in English.

• International Theatrical Trailer (1:55, 1080p) - the French trailer for Holy Motors presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (192 kbps). The French dialogue is subtitled in English.

Holy Motors Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The films of Leos Carax are often characterized by their experimental nature and audacious creativity. I had seen all but one feature of Carax's prior to watching Holy Motors and consider him a favorite among late twentieth-century French auteurs. I'm very grateful to David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson for writing about the mise-en-scène of Boy Meets Girl (1984) in their standard textbook, Film Art, as it compelled me to purchase the Fox Lorber DVD. Carax has come a long way stylistically since his theatrical debut, which showcased brooding black-and-white photography. The one mainstay has been his cinematic muse Denis Levant, who's worked with him on five projects. Levant's Monsieur Oscar plays ten characters in Holy Motors to prodigious effect. His only(!) César nomination came for this film but he lost the Best Actor award to legend Jean-Louis Trintignant (Haneke's Amour). Shout Select delivers the same stellar transfer as the Artificial Eye presentation. Shout has rounded up all the extras from the AE and Indomina discs. The transfer for "Merde" has a superior codec and looks less grainy than the image appearing on the out-of-print Liberation Entertainment edition. (It does only feature lossy DD 2.0 audio, though.) The only bonus missing is an interview with Levant that's on the French Blu-ray. I would have loved a commentary track. Still, a VERY STRONG RECOMMENDATION for Shout Select's package.