Yesterday I
saw Clouds of Sils Maria. Interesting and confusing experience. It was my
selection of the movie, I suggested it to a friend believing that the film will
tell us a conventional story about actresses.
There was nothing conventional about the film, it was not even American which,
for some reason, I had expected. Instead it was French-German-Swiss
co-production directed by Olivier Assayas, a French director unknown to me until yesterday. There are
definitely too few French films shown in Sydney or I have missed too many of
good films in recent years.
During the
film I felt very uncomfortable for a couple of reasons. There was so much I found
confusing, the story seemed disjointed, events did not follow logical sequence
and some mysteries were left without any explanation. I simply did not
understand what it was all about. The second reason was that I felt responsible
for suggesting such a weird film. And strangely, I was fascinated by the rapid changes
of languages spoken, jumps of the action from one stream of thought to another,
captivating, wonderful performances of Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart. The third actress Chloe Grace Moretz did not make much
of an impression on me.
The story is
about Maria Enders, an acclaimed actress at the peak of her career played by
Juliette Binoche. She is offered a role in a play that propelled her career
twenty years earlier. Only this time she is to play an older woman. Her old
role will be played by a very young actress. To rehearse the role Maria goes to
the Alps with her personal assistant Valentine. The interplay between the two
actresses is unbelievable and whimsical, the reality is mixed with scenes from
the play in such a way that it is not clear what we are watching. This ambiguity
has been intended. The personas of the two women intermingle at times. No
wonder that at first I was unsettled and no wonder that I was fascinated
without being prepared to watch this type of the film. It reminded me of Ingmar
Bergman’s films and some scenes between Maria and Valentine of his Persona. Not
a light stuff I had expected.
Sils Maria
lies in Switzerland, it is absolutely beautiful and I would love to be able to
go there one day and see the snake formed by clouds moving between high
mountains. I found out that my recent object
of fascination, Herman Hesse, used to spend some of his time there. I did know
that he lived in Switzerland for most of his life and that he loved mountain hikes.
The film shows the Alps so beautifully and many times that now, I know what he
saw during his mountain walks. Apparently Carl Jung and Einstein visited the
place as well.
While,
originally, I wanted to see the film as I love Juliette Binoche as an actress,
Kristen Stewart was the main attraction for me. When she first appeared in the
film, I thought that she is very much like my niece Martyna. The same mannerisms,
similar tone of voice, speed of talking and age. That make me perhaps less
objective, but I am not sure about it. She got a Cesar for this role and this
is France’s highest ac
 |
| This my niece |
 |
| and this is Kristen Stewart, I see similarities. Am I biased? |
I was puzzled
by the film, taken somewhere where I did
not expect to be and I am so glad that I saw the film. Shall I go and see it
again, fully knowing what kind of a film I will be watching?
I agree with Vanity Fair that this is “A thoughtful and intelligent meditation
on acting, fame and age” .
