The Lovers on the Bridge (1991)
Directed by Leos Carax
Set against Paris' oldest bridge, the Pont Neuf, while it was closed for repairs, this film is a love story between two young vagrants: Alex, a would be circus performer addicted to alcohol and sedatives and Michele, a painter driven to a life on the streets because of a failed relationship and an affliction which is slowly turning her blind.
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What critics compared The Lovers on the Bridge to
Leos Carax had the Pont Neuf and the surrounding Parisian skyline rebuilt for The Lovers on the Bridge and, more famously (and even more expensively), James Cameron rebuilt the Titanic, so what was stopping the resurrection of ancient Rome but the buck?
Reckless follies are a gift from the movie gods, ranging from D.W. Griffith's "Intolerance" to John Boorman's "Exorcist II: The Heretic" to any given five minutes of a film by Leos Carax, such as "The Lovers on the Bridge" or the recent "Pola X."
The store's once famous rooftop is overgrown, its mannequins tossed aside and broken, its sign, seen from behind, Paris's own Hollywood overlooking Carax's Pont Neuf of his "The Lovers on the Bridge."
We’ve also seen actor Lavant before, although not with this much screen command since he and Juliette Binoche paired as homeless amoureux in The Lovers on the Bridge.
About a man: Although Holy Motors stars Denis Lavant, the simian, sinewy actor who played the lead in Carax's first three movies—Boy Meets Girl (1984), Bad Blood (1986), and The Lovers on the Bridge (1991)—it opens with the lanky writer-director himself.
Now comes the moment when I have to tell you that “Holy Motors” was made by a culty and pseudonymous French director called Leos Carax (real name Alexandre Dupont), who has made only five features in his 28-year career, the best known of which was “The Lovers on the Bridge,” way back in 1991.
A mysterious businessman, Mr. Oscar — played by Denis Lavant, the former circus acrobat whom Carax turned into something of a star with his 1991 film “The Lovers on the Bridge” — says good-bye to his kids, steps into his stretch white Lincoln limo (escorted by body guards in a BMW) and sets out for a day of Paris “appointments.”
Leos Carax’s long overdue return to feature filmmaking — after such dark delights as “The Lovers on the Bridge” (1991) and “Pola X” (1999) — is a self-reflective avant-garde examination of external and internal influences.