The man in pajamas on the bed with a dog is Leos Carax. But it is also not him. This director’s double, who first appeared in Holy Motors (2012), moves from his room to a theater filled with ghostly spectators. In It’s Not Me, Leos Carax once again invites us on a dreamlike journey filled with the ghosts of cinema. The first of these ghosts is Jean-Luc Godard, whose voice plays through Carax’s answering machine. Carax collages archival footage of pivotal 20th-century events, such as the 1939 American Nazi Party rally at Madison Square Garden, with more recent images. Carax’s narration – distant and echoing just like Godard’s – overlaps with them. Carax and Godard share a pessimism about humanity’s future, observing how little we have learned from our past mistakes. It’s Not Me is also a personal reflection on Carax’s own cinematic history. Bad Blood and The Lovers on the Bridge... Here, too, the ghosts return: David Bowie and actors from Pola X, who have since passed. Yet It’s Not Me is not a mournful film. Carax’s daughter symbolizes hope, and the small puppet from Annette re-enacts Denis Lavant’s unforgettable sprint from Bad Blood. For Carax, the driving force behind his pursuit of cinema lies in youth and its vitality. (SEO Seunghee)