Leos Carax

Directing

Leos Carax

Born

1960-11-22 (65)

Place of birth

Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France, France

Known for

Directing

Credits

50 titles

Leos Carax (born Alex Christophe Dupont, November 22, 1960) is a French-born film director, critic, and writer. Carax is noted for his poetic style and his tortured depictions of love. His first major work was Boy Meets Girl (1984), and his notable works include Lovers on the Bridge (1991) and the controversial Pola X (1999). His professional name is an anagram of his first and middle names.

Known for

Annette poster
6.7

In present-day Los Angeles, controversial stand-up comedian Henry McHenry and internationally renowned opera singer Ann Defrasnoux form the façade of a happy couple in the spotlight. Ann gives birth to a baby girl named Annette, who possesses an exceptional gift that will change all of their lives forever.

Annette

2021

The Lovers on the Bridge poster
7.4

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.

The Lovers on the Bridge

1991

Holy Motors poster
7.0

We follow 24 hours in the life of a being moving from life to life like a cold and solitary assassin moving from hit to hit. In each of these interwoven lives, the being possesses an entirely distinct identity: sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, sometimes youthful, sometimes old. By turns murderer, beggar, company chairman, monstrous creature, worker, family man.

Holy Motors

2012

Tokyo! poster
6.9

Three distinct tales unfold in the bustling city of Tokyo. Merde, a bizarre sewer-dweller, emerges from a manhole and begins terrorizing pedestrians. After his arrest, he stands trial and lashes out at a hostile courtroom. A man who has resigned himself to a life of solitude reconsiders after meeting a charming pizza delivery woman. And finally, a happy young couple find themselves undergoing a series of frightening metamorphoses.

Tokyo!

2008

The Sparks Brothers poster
7.4

Take a musical odyssey through five weird and wonderful decades with brothers Ron & Russell Mael, celebrating the inspiring legacy of Sparks: your favorite band’s favorite band.

The Sparks Brothers

2021

It's Not Me poster
7.1

This free-form film is a self-portrait, which revisits more than 40 years of the author’s filmography and questions the major stations of his life, while capturing the political tremors of the time.

It's Not Me

2024

Film credits

2020s · 6 titles

Annette poster
6.7

In present-day Los Angeles, controversial stand-up comedian Henry McHenry and internationally renowned opera singer Ann Defrasnoux form the façade of a happy couple in the spotlight. Ann gives birth to a baby girl named Annette, who possesses an exceptional gift that will change all of their lives forever.

Annette

2021

The Sparks Brothers poster
7.4

Take a musical odyssey through five weird and wonderful decades with brothers Ron & Russell Mael, celebrating the inspiring legacy of Sparks: your favorite band’s favorite band.

The Sparks Brothers

2021

It's Not Me poster
7.1

This free-form film is a self-portrait, which revisits more than 40 years of the author’s filmography and questions the major stations of his life, while capturing the political tremors of the time.

It's Not Me

2024

An Urban Allegory poster
7.5

A ballet dancer is late for an audition for a show inspired by Plato's Allegory of the Cave. She arrives with her seven-year-old son, Jay, and begs the director to give her a chance.

An Urban Allegory

2024

Baby Annette, à l'impossible ils sont tenus poster
7.7

In 2019, the director Leos Carax proposes to Estelle Charlier and Romuald Collinet to design, make and animate "Annette", the puppet of his new film. This one will be the child of the couple Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver. Propelled into the world of cinema, begins for this charismatic duo a unique and singular adventure in their career as puppeteers. Faced with the demands of the filmmaker, the impossible, they are held.

Baby Annette, à l'impossible ils sont tenus

2021

My Own Way poster
NR

From 2016 to 2021, Laurent Achard directed four portraits of filmmakers: Vecchiali, Brisseau, Stévenin, and Mazuy. The fifth (Carax), begun in 2023 at the Villa Medici, remained unfinished. He nicknamed it “The Chairs.” “When we consider how familiar death is, and how complete our ignorance is, and that there has never beenany escape, we must admit that the secret is well kept!” (Jankelevitch)

My Own Way

2026

2010s · 4 titles

Holy Motors poster
7.0

We follow 24 hours in the life of a being moving from life to life like a cold and solitary assassin moving from hit to hit. In each of these interwoven lives, the being possesses an entirely distinct identity: sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, sometimes youthful, sometimes old. By turns murderer, beggar, company chairman, monstrous creature, worker, family man.

Holy Motors

2012

Mr. X poster
6.1

The image of a mysterious, solitary filmmaker - a cineaste maudit - who flees from both the media and the public, is unrelentingly bound to the figure of Leos Carax, in France. Elsewhere, the real focus is on his films and he is considered to be an icon of world cinema. Mr.X dives into the poetic and visionary world of an artist who was already a cult figure from his very first film. Punctuated by interviews and unseen footage, this documentary is most of all a fine-tuned exploration of the poetic and visionary world of Leos Carax, alias "Mr.X".

Mr. X

2014

DRIVE IN Holy Motors poster
6.0

A making-of documentary of Leos Carax's Holy Motors. Present during the shoot, Salomé catches exacting and inspiring moments of the production and adds interviews with its main participants (the actors Denis Lavant, Edith Scob, and Kylie Minogue, and the cinematographer, Caroline Champetier).

DRIVE IN Holy Motors

2013

Men Show Movies & Women Their Breasts poster
4.1

Isabell Suba, ambitious up-and-coming director, has made it – one of her short films is in the line-up of the most important film festival of the world! When she arrives at the 65. Cannes film festival, she has face the accomplished facts: David, her incompetent producer, has kindly sublet their cosy joint apartment to other festival guests. The other bad news: There is not a single movie in the competition directed by a woman! This affirms Isabell’s qualms: The film business demands women to gear up instead of dressing up low cut! Moreover, the chauvinistic remarks of her comrade-in-arms David who feels comfortable around the clichéd gender stereotypes from the Stone Age seemingly prevalent in Cannes infuriate Isabell. As if this wasn’t enough already, a shattering feedback on her new film project by a potential investor finally causes her to doubt herself. Before she can live her dream up at the Olympus of film business, she must first find out who really believes in her.

Men Show Movies & Women Their Breasts

2014

2000s · 5 titles

1990s · 4 titles

1980s · 3 titles

Behind the camera

Annette poster
6.7

In present-day Los Angeles, controversial stand-up comedian Henry McHenry and internationally renowned opera singer Ann Defrasnoux form the façade of a happy couple in the spotlight. Ann gives birth to a baby girl named Annette, who possesses an exceptional gift that will change all of their lives forever.

Annette

2021

The Lovers on the Bridge poster
7.4

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.

The Lovers on the Bridge

1991

The Lovers on the Bridge poster
7.4

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.

The Lovers on the Bridge

1991

Holy Motors poster
7.0

We follow 24 hours in the life of a being moving from life to life like a cold and solitary assassin moving from hit to hit. In each of these interwoven lives, the being possesses an entirely distinct identity: sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, sometimes youthful, sometimes old. By turns murderer, beggar, company chairman, monstrous creature, worker, family man.

Holy Motors

2012

Holy Motors poster
7.0

We follow 24 hours in the life of a being moving from life to life like a cold and solitary assassin moving from hit to hit. In each of these interwoven lives, the being possesses an entirely distinct identity: sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, sometimes youthful, sometimes old. By turns murderer, beggar, company chairman, monstrous creature, worker, family man.

Holy Motors

2012

Tokyo! poster
6.9

Three distinct tales unfold in the bustling city of Tokyo. Merde, a bizarre sewer-dweller, emerges from a manhole and begins terrorizing pedestrians. After his arrest, he stands trial and lashes out at a hostile courtroom. A man who has resigned himself to a life of solitude reconsiders after meeting a charming pizza delivery woman. And finally, a happy young couple find themselves undergoing a series of frightening metamorphoses.

Tokyo!

2008

Tokyo! poster
6.9

Three distinct tales unfold in the bustling city of Tokyo. Merde, a bizarre sewer-dweller, emerges from a manhole and begins terrorizing pedestrians. After his arrest, he stands trial and lashes out at a hostile courtroom. A man who has resigned himself to a life of solitude reconsiders after meeting a charming pizza delivery woman. And finally, a happy young couple find themselves undergoing a series of frightening metamorphoses.

Tokyo!

2008

It's Not Me poster
7.1

This free-form film is a self-portrait, which revisits more than 40 years of the author’s filmography and questions the major stations of his life, while capturing the political tremors of the time.

It's Not Me

2024

It's Not Me poster
7.1

This free-form film is a self-portrait, which revisits more than 40 years of the author’s filmography and questions the major stations of his life, while capturing the political tremors of the time.

It's Not Me

2024

It's Not Me poster
7.1

This free-form film is a self-portrait, which revisits more than 40 years of the author’s filmography and questions the major stations of his life, while capturing the political tremors of the time.

It's Not Me

2024

Mauvais Sang poster
7.1

Two aging crooks are given two weeks to repay a debt to a woman named The American. They recruit their recently deceased partner's son to help them break into a laboratory and steal the vaccine against STBO, a sexually transmitted disease that is sweeping the country. It's spread by having sex without emotional involvement, and most of its victims are teenagers who make love out of curiosity rather than commitment.

Mauvais Sang

1986

Mauvais Sang poster
7.1

Two aging crooks are given two weeks to repay a debt to a woman named The American. They recruit their recently deceased partner's son to help them break into a laboratory and steal the vaccine against STBO, a sexually transmitted disease that is sweeping the country. It's spread by having sex without emotional involvement, and most of its victims are teenagers who make love out of curiosity rather than commitment.

Mauvais Sang

1986

Pola X poster
5.5

A writer leaves his upper-class life and journeys with a woman claiming to be his sister, and her two friends.

Pola X

1999

Pola X poster
5.5

A writer leaves his upper-class life and journeys with a woman claiming to be his sister, and her two friends.

Pola X

1999

42 One Dream Rush poster
6.0

An omnibus project bringing together acclaimed directors from around the world, each contributing a 42-second short inspired by a dream. Produced by 42 Below vodka, the collection blends surreal, poetic, and experimental visions into a mosaic of oneiric cinema.

42 One Dream Rush

2010

Boy Meets Girl poster
6.7

In Paris at night, a young aspiring filmmaker grapples with heartbreak after his girlfriend leaves him for his best friend. After a failed attempt to confront his friend, he wanders the streets and encounters a girl who has just been abandoned. Their paths cross at a party, bringing together two tormented souls.

Boy Meets Girl

1984

Boy Meets Girl poster
6.7

In Paris at night, a young aspiring filmmaker grapples with heartbreak after his girlfriend leaves him for his best friend. After a failed attempt to confront his friend, he wanders the streets and encounters a girl who has just been abandoned. Their paths cross at a party, bringing together two tormented souls.

Boy Meets Girl

1984

Sans Titre poster
5.4

In 1997, for it's fiftieth anniversary, the Cannes Film Festival asked Leos Carax for a short film, a kind of postcard addressed to the festival, in which the director would give news of himself and of his film project "Pola X."

Sans Titre

1997

Sans Titre poster
5.4

In 1997, for it's fiftieth anniversary, the Cannes Film Festival asked Leos Carax for a short film, a kind of postcard addressed to the festival, in which the director would give news of himself and of his film project "Pola X."

Sans Titre

1997

20 Little Films poster
6.0

Since 1995, the Viennale has invited renowned directors to create short, one-minute films as personal contributions to the festival. Ranging from home movies to political essays, musical sketches to abstract studies, these “little films” form a unique anthology of cinematic moments. 20 Little Films collects a selection of these works, premiering together for the Viennale’s 50th anniversary at the Locarno Film Festival.

20 Little Films

2012

No artwork available
NR

Plot TBA.

Untitled Leos Carax Project

—

Lily May B poster
NR

Once upon a time, there was a little girl, a young woman and a young boy. They each held a secret too heavy to bear. They met in an end-of-the-world world, and together rode a big motorcycle through empty cities, deserted freeways, immemorial forests. On their journey, they encountered many dangers, but kept going. In search of who they were; in search of a place to B, maybe?

Lily May B

—

Hymn to Merde poster
5.7

A clip by Leos Carax, inspired by his film "Merde" (part of the feature film "Tokyo!'), with Denis Lavant singing in Merdogon, the language invented for the film.

Hymn to Merde

2009

Strangulation Blues poster
5.7

A very Parisian night. Paul plays at strangling Colette because she doesn't inspire him a single, damn camera shot. Early in the morning, he takes flight because the future is for those who get up early. Was it too late? It's too early to say.

Strangulation Blues

1980

Strangulation Blues poster
5.7

A very Parisian night. Paul plays at strangling Colette because she doesn't inspire him a single, damn camera shot. Early in the morning, he takes flight because the future is for those who get up early. Was it too late? It's too early to say.

Strangulation Blues

1980

Gradiva poster
NR

Rodin's sculpture The Thinker is a sentient being.

Gradiva

2014

My Last Minute poster
5.0

The last minute in a man's life.

My Last Minute

2006

My Last Minute poster
5.0

The last minute in a man's life.

My Last Minute

2006