Leos Carax’s long-awaited fifth feature is a deliriously dreamy, highly stylish, and kaleidoscopic odyssey through the night streets of an eerie theatrical Paris. Longtime collaborator Denis Lavant pays tribute to the art of acting as the mysterious Monsieur Oscar. Slipping in and out of different roles, he is chauffeured crisscrossing the city in a white stretch limousine, kitted out in the back like an actor’s dressing room, by driver Céline (the legendary Édith Scob). Each time he emerges as a different character – killer, father, banker, artist, beggar – and with each role comes a new disguise, and a new thread in Carax’s extraordinary tapestry. Dazzling, hilarious, transcendent, and terrifying.

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with Leos Carax, hosted by Yvonne McDevitt,a film artist who studied Drama at Trinity College Dublin and then worked as an assistant to Robert Wilson at the Opéra Bastille in Paris. Her first poetry film — 2GRAVES — with music by Oscar-nominated composer Michael Nyman, premiered at the East End Film Festival in London in 2013. HORSE — her first short film, premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh in 2014. TIME (2015), BLINDNESS (2016), INSIDE (2021) and MYRRH (2023) followed thereafter. TRUMPETS — her first feature film — (Authored Works: Arts Council of Ireland & Irish Film Institute) — is due for release in 2024.

Notes by Marie Pierre-Richard.

Screening as part of the IFI French Film Festival, November 15 – 26.