CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA
***
Director: Olivier Assayas
Screenwriter: Olivier Assayas
Principal cast:
Juliette Binoche
Kristen Stewart
Lars Eidinger
Chloë Grace Moretz
Country: France/Germany/Switzerland/USA/Belgium
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 123 mins.
Australian release date: 7 May 2015
Previewed at: Sony Pictures Theatrette, Sydney, on 22 April 2015
In Clouds Of Sils Maria, the latest film from Olivier Assayas, we bear witness to a most intriguing phenomenon, a cloud formation called the Maloja, which winds its way like a snake through the valleys of the Swiss Alps. It’s a visual experience that adds another layer to the mystery and complexity of this movie about an actress at the peak of her career and her reflections on the ageing process, where the older generation is forced to confront not only the fact that it is ageing, but also that the younger generation has the power of social media at their fingertips. The new kids on the block have grown up in this brave new world, but it’s not so easy to navigate if you haven’t been born into it.
On a commuter train racing towards Zurich we meet a young woman, Valentine (Kristen Stewart), juggling phones and acting as a ‘gofer’ for her employer, Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche), a middle-aged European actress, as sophisticated in her demeanour as Valentine is as naïvely self-assured in hers. Despite this difference it is soon apparent that the women have a close bond. They are on their way to attend an awards night but the reason for their journey changes when, on route, they learn of the death of the playwright Wilhelm Melchior, the man whose play thrust Maria into stardom 20 years earlier. Maria is now expected to posthumously honour her mentor at the awards.
At the post-ceremony soirée, Maria is approached by Klaus Diesterweg (Lars Eidinger), a ‘hot’ theatre director wanting to reprise a production of Maloja Snake, the Melchior play that launched her career. Klaus wants her for the role of the older woman, Helena, rather than her previous character, Sigrid, which is to be offered to a young, up-and-coming Hollywood starlet, Jo-Ann Ellis (Chloë Grace Moretz), who comes with all the trappings of modern celebrity - paparazzi, a reputation for partying and a huge following on social media. She also has, above all, a ruthless attitude that seems to be the default mode necessary for survival in the cut-throat world of instant fame. Disquietingly, Maria finds herself recognising an unsettling image of her younger self when she meets this incarnation but, despite her misgivings, she and Valentine head off to Melchior’s house in the Swiss region of Sils Maria, to practise for her new role.
This is a strange, somewhat difficult script, which Assayas breaks down into two parts plus an epilogue. The first part takes his audience into the lives of his characters who find themselves in a situation which none had predicted and for which they weren’t prepared, much like life itself. In the second part, in Sils Maria, Maria is pre-occupied by her past, reflecting on her life as an actress and the situation she now finds herself in. Valentine, too, shares her theories on life, the universe and everything in a concise, deliberate manner, with all the surety that youth brings. These scenes between the two actresses are magnificent, for their craft if nothing else. Binoche shows why she is one of France’s best and Stewart’s performance earned her the accolade of being the first American actress to receive a prestigious César Award.
Clouds Of Sils Maria is a smart look at the art of acting and the complexities of ageing, especially when the ageing is played out in the glare of the media, both social and traditional. The casting is pitch-perfect and the performances and scenery captured by Yorick le Saux’s cinematography are breath-taking. It’s not without its mysteries, especially when a major plot point simply vanishes (into the clouds?) late in the film and yet it does make a weird kind of sense. Like the Maloja snake winding its way through the valleys, it follows a circuitous path to its destination despite the many obstacles on the way. This is a fine film; not one of Assayas’s best, but one which will stay with you long after the lights come up.
Screenwriter: Olivier Assayas
Principal cast:
Juliette Binoche
Kristen Stewart
Lars Eidinger
Chloë Grace Moretz
Country: France/Germany/Switzerland/USA/Belgium
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 123 mins.
Australian release date: 7 May 2015
Previewed at: Sony Pictures Theatrette, Sydney, on 22 April 2015
In Clouds Of Sils Maria, the latest film from Olivier Assayas, we bear witness to a most intriguing phenomenon, a cloud formation called the Maloja, which winds its way like a snake through the valleys of the Swiss Alps. It’s a visual experience that adds another layer to the mystery and complexity of this movie about an actress at the peak of her career and her reflections on the ageing process, where the older generation is forced to confront not only the fact that it is ageing, but also that the younger generation has the power of social media at their fingertips. The new kids on the block have grown up in this brave new world, but it’s not so easy to navigate if you haven’t been born into it.
On a commuter train racing towards Zurich we meet a young woman, Valentine (Kristen Stewart), juggling phones and acting as a ‘gofer’ for her employer, Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche), a middle-aged European actress, as sophisticated in her demeanour as Valentine is as naïvely self-assured in hers. Despite this difference it is soon apparent that the women have a close bond. They are on their way to attend an awards night but the reason for their journey changes when, on route, they learn of the death of the playwright Wilhelm Melchior, the man whose play thrust Maria into stardom 20 years earlier. Maria is now expected to posthumously honour her mentor at the awards.
At the post-ceremony soirée, Maria is approached by Klaus Diesterweg (Lars Eidinger), a ‘hot’ theatre director wanting to reprise a production of Maloja Snake, the Melchior play that launched her career. Klaus wants her for the role of the older woman, Helena, rather than her previous character, Sigrid, which is to be offered to a young, up-and-coming Hollywood starlet, Jo-Ann Ellis (Chloë Grace Moretz), who comes with all the trappings of modern celebrity - paparazzi, a reputation for partying and a huge following on social media. She also has, above all, a ruthless attitude that seems to be the default mode necessary for survival in the cut-throat world of instant fame. Disquietingly, Maria finds herself recognising an unsettling image of her younger self when she meets this incarnation but, despite her misgivings, she and Valentine head off to Melchior’s house in the Swiss region of Sils Maria, to practise for her new role.
This is a strange, somewhat difficult script, which Assayas breaks down into two parts plus an epilogue. The first part takes his audience into the lives of his characters who find themselves in a situation which none had predicted and for which they weren’t prepared, much like life itself. In the second part, in Sils Maria, Maria is pre-occupied by her past, reflecting on her life as an actress and the situation she now finds herself in. Valentine, too, shares her theories on life, the universe and everything in a concise, deliberate manner, with all the surety that youth brings. These scenes between the two actresses are magnificent, for their craft if nothing else. Binoche shows why she is one of France’s best and Stewart’s performance earned her the accolade of being the first American actress to receive a prestigious César Award.
Clouds Of Sils Maria is a smart look at the art of acting and the complexities of ageing, especially when the ageing is played out in the glare of the media, both social and traditional. The casting is pitch-perfect and the performances and scenery captured by Yorick le Saux’s cinematography are breath-taking. It’s not without its mysteries, especially when a major plot point simply vanishes (into the clouds?) late in the film and yet it does make a weird kind of sense. Like the Maloja snake winding its way through the valleys, it follows a circuitous path to its destination despite the many obstacles on the way. This is a fine film; not one of Assayas’s best, but one which will stay with you long after the lights come up.