SummaryAt the peak of her international career, Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) is asked to perform in a revival of the play that made her famous twenty years ago. But back then she played the role of Sigrid, an alluring young girl who disarms and eventually drives her boss Helena to suicide. Now she is being asked to step into the other role, ...
SummaryAt the peak of her international career, Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) is asked to perform in a revival of the play that made her famous twenty years ago. But back then she played the role of Sigrid, an alluring young girl who disarms and eventually drives her boss Helena to suicide. Now she is being asked to step into the other role, ...
Binoche and Stewart, who has never before exuded so much mystery or nuance, share the screen for much of the movie, and they make a fascinating odd couple; with the former’s high-strung intensity and the latter’s cool watchfulness, the two are a study in contrasting performing styles.
Kristen Stewart doesn’t screw it up. She’s in on the joke, but she never plays Valentine as a joke. She’s alive and alert and present in every second of screen time, alongside one of the greatest living European actresses, working not for herself but for the benefit of a strange, imperfect and sometimes brilliant film. There’s nothing more you can ask.
A feminist movie that is NOT full of political pandering, made with real heart and passion. One of my all-time favorites, however, like Ingmar Bergman's Persona, this movie is soul-crushing and I only rewatch it when I'm prepared to take the emotional blows this lands in my gut. Also, Kristen Stewart actually acts here. Chloe Grace Moretz is fleeting, yet scene-stealing. Like her character is meant to be. I give this a ten, and I don't just throw 10's around.
A haunting film by Olivier Assayas about art, time, and irony. An actress who made her name playing the younger woman in a play about the relationship of two woman (one younger and one older) is asked many years later to play the older woman. She hesitates but finally agrees and then ironically has an even greater success as the older woman. The film follows the actress, played magnificently by Juliette Binoche as she hesitates and then prepares for the new production, and Assayas manages to mix the actress’s feelings with the text of the play so that you never quite know if the actress or her character in the play is speaking. The supporting cast members, especially Kristen Stewart, are also superb.
By design, the dialogue from the (fictional) play comments directly on the central, shifting power relationship in the film, sometimes elegantly, sometimes a little awkwardly.
Brilliant performances aside, Clouds of Sils Maria is overlong and much too self-indulgently an “art film.” It might have benefited from being just a bit more grounded.
A backstage drama that has all the sizzle of a glass of water resting on the windowsill, Olivier Assayas’ Clouds of Sils Maria mistakes lack of dramatic imagination for smoldering subtlety.
Terrible title, but a riveting mirror on the times in which we live... Binoche's mania is magnificent, as always. (Damn, she`s hot.) Watching the film is like watching a news report of a train wreak; you want to avert your eyes, but the curiosity of human nature pulls you in to take a closer look and find out what's really happening. An artistic film with multiple layers of complexity commentary on women and aging in our technology driven media. (See Maggie Gyllenhaal's recent media response). Post-processing the film with my lesbian partner over dinner in West Portal was in some ways more enjoyable than watching the film as the Jungian style story line teases and frustrates. But a film is art and shouldn't always please. Essentially a masterpiece - talented acting, an intricate maze of a story and intense mythic imagery. A classic on par with Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd. See this film now or after award season; eventually you must see this film. All I can say is: More, more, more!
The actors and their generation difference, evolution of cinema and the beauty of nature.
This is about a middle aged actress who spends in the Swiss Alps with her personal assistant while preparing for the upcoming project. During that time, she receives a news that the author of the book which was adapted for the screen 20 years ago where she play a main role and now in its remake, she's doing another part, while a young sensation playing the main part. This is more like the evolution of cinema. The 20 years is too soon for her, while the cinema and its trend advanced rapidly. Precisely to say, the commercial films and young actors taking over the art films and true artists' places respectively.
If you at least 30 years old, you would get this film more than others. Because while I was growing up in the 90s, the cinema was so different. I'm not talking about the technology like computer graphics, but the story and how it was narrated for the screen. Now the science- fiction and dystopian themes taking over with the young audience and social media support. I think it was a quite meaningful film, particularly if you adore films like the recent evolution in cinema was so faster than ever.
The negatives were, the film was too long, slow pace and too simple drama. The positives were, the actors and their performances, the locations, theme and some of the dialogues. Directed by a French filmmaker, this is an international project with a few guest appearances. Most of the film was set in the Alps. Totally different than what I was anticipating, but I still like, except in a few parts where I got bored for its weak development. So this is for the selected audience, that mean it will be appreciated by a very few and I'm kind of neutral with mostly in its favour.
6/10
This is one of those movies that critics are crazy about but regular audience yawns.
Masterfully done and acted, (Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart are starring there, and they are great), the movie is too long, full of cliches and lacks novelty. It does have a few interesting ideas and twists but not nearly enough for more than two hours. Nevertheless, in recognition of great performances of both leads and superb cinematography, I am giving this movie a “6”.
This movie is absolute garbage. Oliver Assayass. I'd rather Oliver A-DIE-yass than watch another one of his movies. The acting from everyone but Binoce in terrible and, even she has her slip ups at times. The story is uninteresting and, this whole project was just a horrible idea.
I was so disappointed, after the good reviews, and I'm a longtime Binoche fan. The suggestion that when males create female characters' sexual attraction to each other, they're often just "male fantasies," is brought up in the movie (re: the deceased playwright's play). But I think this a valid criticism of the movie too. Neither of these women, nor their relationship, felt real. I cared about no one in this film. Stilted, on-the-nose dialogue (both in the "play readings" by the women, and in the movie itself) didn't help, and the "play within a play" highlighted this fatal flaw instead of adding the intriguing layer that the filmmaker was going for. And the "Jo-Ann" character was flimsy and cliched. All in all, this film sacrificed depth and credibility to overblown pretentiousness. It's been compared to "All About Eve." No. The people in that movie were real. In this one, only the clouds felt real. So many clouds ...
Production Company
CG Cinéma,
Pallas Film,
CAB Productions,
Vortex Sutra,
Arte France Cinéma,
ZDF/Arte,
Orange Studio,
Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS),
SRG - SSR,
Ezekiel Film Production,
Eurimages,
Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC),
ARTE,
Ciné+,
Canal+,
Deutscher Filmförderfonds (DFFF),
Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM),
Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg,
Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA),
Office Fédéral de la Culture,
MEDIA Programme of the European Union,
BLS Business Location Südtirol-Alto Adige,
Cinéforom,
Fondation Ernst Göhner,
Loterie Suisse Romande,
Stage Pool Focal,
Succés Passage Antenne,
Suisse Tourisme