This movie is bonkers. I'll just get that out of the way now. It is deeply, unapologetically weird. If you can embrace that, however, you will find a beautifully introspective look at identity and the way our roles shape how we see ourselves.Oscar (Denis Lavant) is growing dissatisfied with his job, which involves a series of shifting identities from homeless old lady to dad to weird sewer dweller. Only his limo driver, Céline (Edith Scob), is there for him all the time, ferrying him from appointment to appointment, trying to make sure he eats and takes care of himself in between. Only the happenstance running into an old flame (Kylie Minogue), also on a job, alleviates some of the existential burden and then only temporarily.
People have seen clips of Lavant in the green velvet suit getting a cigarette lit by Eva Mendes but that doesn't begin to scratch the surface of what happens in this film. Lavant plays a heroic eleven different characters here and should have been recognized more for that. His performances are astonishingly physical and really power the entire film.
I was going to write a whole paragraph about how this film made me meditate on the nature of self and how performative our lives are and how easy it is to lose a sense of identity when constantly reacting to other people's expectations for us, but I have a hair appointment in an hour and then have to clean and prep for my wine party tonight so you'll just have to fill in your own thoughts on the subject.
It's currently streaming (with ads) on Tubi.
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