It's Not Me

C'est pas moi

France, 2024, 41min.

Director: Leos Carax

Starring: Leos Carax, Denis Lavant, Nastya Golubeva Carax, Loreta Juodkaite and others.

In preparation for the show, the Pompidou Museum ask Carax a simple question: Who are you, Leos Carax?

The answer, according to It’s Not Me, it that he’s everything from silent movies to Hollywood Golden Age classics to scenes from his own work. He’s also the music of Nina Simone and David Bowie and The Fall, as well as Ravel and Beethoven.And he’s above all a person who defines himself through the cinema, whether it’s the movies he loves or those he’s made throughout his turbulent career.

People unfamiliar with Carax’s oeuvre will likely be lost here, while fans and cinephiles will find a hearty meal to feast on. It’s Not Me is chock-full of references and influences, from F.W. Murnau to Jean Vigo to Godard himself, whose trembling voice is heard on a voice message he once left the director.

The auteur seems to be squeezing everything he can into a personal manifesto in which cinema, history and real life become interchangeable, and in which he tries to situate his output within film’s larger trajectory.

At such moments, it’s clear that Carax has not only reserved his own place in cinema’s trajectory, but that his films remain instantly recognizable through their romantic exuberance and visual splendor, their dark humor and existential gloom.

But they’re what we love about a great filmmaker , who’s always put the whole of himself into his work!

Original Language:  French 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOEZAF-6yZk