IT'S NOT ME Review: The Best Cinematic Self-Portrait One Could Wish For

The question, "Who is Leos Carax?" was put to the French filmmaker of such films as Holy Motors and Annette by a museum, in preparation for an exhibit that didn't happen. Carax explains this at the beginning of his 41-minute self-portraiture, ironically titled C'est Pas Moi/It's Not Me.

Like many artists, Carax has had his share of ups and downs in his 40-year career: Once touted as Godard's heir-apparent and an enfant terrible of French cinema, his grand, blurring vision of young love and cinema got him into a lot of trouble. His passionate affair with Juliette Binoche, and stormy relationship with the late Lithuanian actress Katerina Golubeva (with whom he had a daughter, Nastya Golubeva Carax, who is in the film), are often reflected in his films.

In It's Not Me, Carax pays not-too-subtle homage to the late mentor, Jean-Luc Godard, in more ways than one, including JLG's signature wordplay displays on the center of the screen in the film using the same size and same font, linking cinema, history and ghosts. His gravelly voice-over narration also reminds me of the late old master. He even includes a voice message Godard left him on his phone.

Here comes the full circle: Carax's earlier films were heavily influenced by the French New Wave. He started his career as a JLG's pupil (even appearing in JLG's film King Lear) and garnered acclaim for imitating JLG's style, but without the weight of the political and cultural subjects of his mentor. Instead, he aimed for youthful love, longing and whimsy that attracted many admirers, like me.

After a long hiatus -- his magnum opus Les amants du Pont-Neuf/Lovers on the Bridge (1991) and its subsequent box office and critical failure almost destroyed his career and he couldn't finance another film for decades -- and his resurrection with Holy Motors (2012) and Annette (2021), two very self-reflexive, fantastical films, Carax is back, embracing Godard again more openly, for the benefit of composing a dense, visually sumptuous self-portrait.

All Carax's past films are present; his vibrant color palette is pristinely preserved in glorious celluloid  He was once idiosyncratically grouped with other 80s French filmmakers as ‘Cinema du Look’ in conjunction with his then cinematographer, the late Jean-Yves Escoffier.

It’s almost euphoric to see the adorable faces of young Binoche, Julie Delpy and Golubeva, as well as baby Denis Lavant, a longtime collaborator of Carax, playing the filmmaker’s alter ego, Alex (Carax’s real name is Alex Oscar Dupont). His penchant for controversy (or bad French humor) is there, too, in the form of Hitler and Polanski.

Carax is not a visual essayist commenting and reflecting on the state of the chaotic world we live in -- well, maybe only a little bit, but not in Godard's sense. The film is all about him. And it's beautiful and glorious.

It builds up to a stormy solo piano session of the theme from The Young Girls of Rochefort, played by his daughter, Nastya, perfectly capturing the essence of Carax's career, his sentimentality, his art and beauty haunted by the ghosts of the past (including but not limited to departed: Golubeva, Guillaume Depardieu, Escoffier, Godard). It's Not Me is the best kind of cinematic self-portrait you could wish for. And it is easily one of the year’s very best films.

It's Not Me will have a live streaming premiere on the Criterion Channel on 12/10 at 9pm ET // 6pm PT. And will have a special one night screening at IFC Center, NYC on 12/10 at 7pm.

Dustin Chang is a freelance writer. His musings and opinions on everything cinema and beyond can be found at www.dustinchang.com