User Reviews

This was an amazing movie, to a large extent because of its lead actors. I expected Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart to make a great team, and they did; there was never a moment when I thought one of them was out-acting the other, or drawing attention from the other. They worked in perfect tandem as far as I could see.

The first thing that needs to be mentioned is the technique of telling the story in "layers." Many, if not all, scenes are on multiple levels, filled with subtext, and it all mixes effortlessly with the central story.

Binoche plays famous and respected actress Maria Enders, while Kristen plays her devoted personal assistant, Valentine. Enders is preparing to play an important role: the character of Helena, an older woman in a remake of the play in which she once starred brilliantly as the more powerful younger character, Sigrid. Valentine is helping her rehearse, and they both travel to the picturesque mountain town of Sils Maria to work on the play. That's the main "layer" and it makes a perfectly good story on its own. But in this movie, any piece of dialogue can, at the same time, refer to the characters in Enders' play; to Enders and Valentine themselves; to Binoche and Stewart; or to other actors, movies, directors, or events which are not directly mentioned in the film. Yes, even the real life actors are referenced; Olivier Assayas confirmed in an interview that in this movie, the identity of the actual actors is part of the story. It sounds as if it should be weird and confusing, but it's not; it's done very smoothly, with the main story easy to follow even while taking in the other layers of reference as if they were background music.

The basic story, which is beautifully told, is about a woman struggling to deal with ageing in a profession that doesn't always respect older women, that may consider them irrelevant. Maria Enders is also trying to be true to her art while making the necessary concessions to fame, the media, the fans, fellow actors, and critics, concessions she resents to some extent. It would be a fine story all by itself. But the added layers provide a sort of ongoing commentary on the story, that makes it much more interesting, and a little strange. Seeing obvious parallels with the lead actors' real lives is odd, but like the parallels between Maria Enders and the character she is preparing to play, it only adds depth to the story and gives us more insight into what is happening.

Maria's struggle is made worse when she meets the young, brash, gossip-ridden Hollywood actress, Joanne Ellis (Chloe Grace Moretz), who is to take on the role of Sigrid. Joanne is smart, fearless, and media-savvy. At their first meeting she flatters Maria and claims to be an admirer, but may simply be feigning respect. Maria is easy to sympathize with when she looks into Joanne's background and sees that the rising star displacing her is a crude, grandstanding girl who manipulates the system to her advantage, and who acts in ridiculous sci-fi drivel.

Gradually, the difficult relationship between the characters in Enders' play becomes blurred and overlapped with Enders' relationship with Valentine, each relationship providing commentary on the other. It is interesting to watch Binoche simultaneously rehearsing a scene in which her character, Helena, has a confrontation with Sigrid, and in subtext confronting Valentine. It gradually becomes unclear whether she is Helena addressing Sigrid, or Maria addressing Valentine, because it becomes both at once.

Maria's conflicts over becoming obsolete in the field where she's excelled, and by extension possibly in her life, causes ongoing friction with Valentine, who tries to help her and encourage her to change her perspective. Finally, in a brief surreal moment, Maria, it is implied, manages to take on Valentine's perspective and her confidence. As Valentine tries to express at one point, Helena and Sigrid are really the same character; by extension, so are Maria and the young, pragmatic, fearless Valentine. Ultimately these opposites are reconciled, the conflicting layers are brought together, and Maria is able to accept her new reality and move on. It's not necessarily a happy ending, in terms of Maria's diminishing professional range, but it is a satisfying one.

This is an enjoyable, well written and well acted, serious and yet consistently entertaining movie from beginning to end.

This movie focuses on the relationship between two women, one a famous actress approaching middle age and the other her young personal assistant. The story plays out on three levels. First there is the relationship between Maria, the famous actress, and Valentine, Maria's young personal assistant. Second there are the women in a play that Maria is rehearsing, with Val reading one of the parts. Thirdly there is the relationship between the real life actors, Juliette Binoche as Maria and Kristen Stewart as Valentine.

The generation gap between Maria and Val is a major theme. Maria almost takes pride in her disregard for the world that Val knows. On many occasions Val will mention a name of some famous actress or writer and Maria will admit to never having heard of them. At first it seems that Val is able to handle this with some humor, but it comes to be more and more of a frustration for her and she finds it hard not to take Maria's disdain for the younger culture as a personal insult. This hit home for me in that I had not known of Stewart before having seen her here; I have come to understand that she is famous in her own right.

The relationship between the women in the play mimics that between Maria and Val to the point that it is sometimes hard to determine if, in rehearsing the play, it is the women in the play conversing, or actually Maria and Val. Not to be ignored is that Binoche and Stewart themselves fit the circumstances of Maria and Val.

Trying to figure out what's going on between Maria and Val was what kept my interest. At some points I thought that Maria might be developing a strong attachment to Val, even perhaps sexual. There are several scenes that imply this. For example when Val takes off from the house that the two women are sharing Maria quickly runs upstairs to watch the car as Val drives off. At another point Maria looks in with intensity to a scantily clad Val as she sleeps. Toward the end when Val tells Maria that things are not working for her, Maria tells Val not to leave, and when Val says she will, Maria says, "Please stay. I need you" and then goes over to hug Val.

Val's feelings for Maria are even more ambiguous. She clearly admires Maria, but there is more there. When Maria is on stage to give a talk Val is in the wings smiling and saying, "Go get 'em Tiger." There is a scene that has a scantily clad Val swimming with a naked Maria. The two are having more fun than I would expect an actor and her assistant to have. When Maria hugs Val after pleading with her to stay, Val responds but then backs off in a confused emotional state. There are hints that Val may have lesbian tendencies. When Val says she is going to meet a male friend Maria asks, "Are you involved with him? I mean, is this a thing now? I'm thrilled that you have a boyfriend, there haven't been that many. And when there is one, you burn through him pretty fast." It would be unusual for a woman as attractive as Val not to have many boyfriends. Then there is the mysterious scene where Val is driving on curvy roads in the mountains in a fog and then stops, gets out of the car, and vomits. Is she sick from the curvy roads, or is she having an emotional breakdown, realizing that things are not all that well between her and Maria?

And what is to be made of the sexual elements of the two women in the play that Maria is rehearsing as it might imply something between Val and Maria? Trying to figure out the complex relationship between Val and Maria is confounding. I guess it is what it is and it's a mistake to over-analyze it, but the ambiguities enticed me to figure it out.

As you would expect, Juliette Binoche stands out in this role. I admire her for taking it on, since the portrait of Maria is not completely flattering and the parallels to Binoche's own life are clear. Appearing without makeup on occasion, as she does, strikes me as the mark of a confident actress. Binoche is also up against a young actress who more than holds her own. In fact I was quite taken with Stewart's performance.

There is occasional humorous relief. Val reads some of the offers that Maria is getting, noting that "there's a Spanish horror flick, it's pretty gory, you'd be playing a Mother Superior. There are werewolves involved for whatever reason." There is a magazine offer to do a story on successful aging that gets a resounding "no" from Maria--this is a sensitive issue for her, in commenting on a line that one of the characters has in the play she is rehearsing she says, "Time's gone by and she can't accept it. Me neither, I guess." After meeting with a future co-star and her boyfriend Maria remarks on how she liked them and how nice they were. Val comments that of course Maria would like them, since they spent the whole evening flattering her.

In spite of Maria's ambivalence about technology it's interesting to see what a role that plays in her life, from essential cell phones, to tablet computers, skype, google, GPS, etc.

The significance of the title "Clouds of Sils Maria" is up for debate, but it is an unfortunate, uninviting title. When I have recommended this movie to friends none has been able to remember the title without asking me again. A title like "A Generation Gap" would have encouraged more people to see this well-acted examination of ambiguities in human relationships.

There are so many reasons to like this film. First, the cast includes two of the lead actresses of two different generations - the priceless and prize covered Juliette Binoche and one of the top performers of the younger generation Kristen Stewart, who after having started and made herself a name in blockbusters took a turn into her career to more profound and fulfilling roles. Then, it's a story with multiple threads and subtext, but centered around the show (more specifically theater) business where the two actresses live and breathe. Last but not least, it's a movie that while well told as a story leaves enough room for mystery and imagination. I am just surprised by the relative low impact the film had in festivals and even with the public - and I suspect that some distribution problems were involved.

The story written and brought to screen by Olivier Assayas is said to have been tailored and designed for Juliette Binoche, and these fine actress really deserves it and makes the best of it. It's a story about a theater actress who debuted two decades before the action takes place as the younger pole of a feminine couple in a play that is about power fight between ages and a love story built out of that confrontation. She's now the age of the older woman in the couple and is asked to play the other other on stage, just after the playwright and mentor has passed away. She accepts half-heartily and starts repeating the role in the cottage located in the Swiss mountains that belonged to the author, together with her young assistant (Stewart). Is the relation in life a replica of the one in the play? The borders between the two are blurred away more and more as the story advances ... and I will tell no more in order to avoid spoiling any ounce of the pleasure of watching one of the most intelligent and sensitive dialogues and intriguing story line I have seen recently on screens. I will just say that both actresses are magnificent and that the film tells a lot about relations, friendship, art, the borders between art and life, show business cruel rules and the role that 'smart' communications play in our lives.

And then we have Switzerland, and its landscapes which play such an important role in the aesthetics and in the drama, maybe exactly because of their beauty and apparent tranquility. I loved the threatening metaphor of the snake that gives the name of the play-in-the-film and shows up only once at a key moment. Or maybe it does not, because there is much that is not told in this movie which is exactly the reason some may not like it, and some other will love it and will continue to be haunted by it after the screening ends. I belong to the later category.

Look, people, European movies are just different from American films. Particularly, French movies are different; they deal with the mysteries of human existence -- growing old, looking at the future of one's profession, grieving over loss of an old friend and mentor AND a divorce at the same time. Europeans still talk; conversation is important; debate is a delight. But to do that, one has to have ideas, a vocabulary, a sense of history, some new concepts to test -- and a feeling that human beings can still be heroic and worth spending time with. All too little of this exists in the US these days. Worse, American films have been in profit-only franchise mode for years, thus poisoning the next generation by raising their adrenaline level. Paris is currently the epicenter for world cinema and with reason. By driving for money only, Hollywood has driven the public from the theaters.

NOTE: SPOILERS TO COME 1. Maria's not in crises; she has a full plate. Overwhelmed, too much to do at once. Then her mentor dies, as she's traveling to pick up an award for him. Meanwhile her ex-husband is hassling her about money. 2. She trusts her assistant, Val, who seems committed to her and respects her. Being young, Val thinks it would be helpful to "bring the old girl up-to-date" with her insightful comments on movies and acting. We don't have any evidence that Val knows anything more about either than gossip and LA obsessions. But that never stopped a youngster from arguing about stuff. Maria playfully teases her back. 3. Maria would like to remain the same character she played 20 years before, when she was 18. Wild horses couldn't drag me back to 18, or 20, or 25, but it's an understandable point of view for someone who's had to adjust to being in the public eye. She doesn't really like Helena, didn't like the actress who played her, and doesn't want to end the play being left, seen as undesirable, exploited and abandoned. 4. While Maria says, "I'm not concerned about the lesbian angle in the play; I've always been straight." Well, who asked her? Clearly some sexual tension is going on here with all three women, though there's nothing from Jo-Ann to Val (Jo-Ann is as cold a little bitch as required). But Val seems to be increasingly attracted to Maria and Maria seems to be healing/opening back up within the boundaries of friendship. She also peeks at Val when she's asleep. 5. As the erotic intensity increases, Val throws up by the side of the road. Seems like the well-known old "homosexual panic" to me, wherein one realizes that one could be in love with someone of the same sex. Whoa! Where's this coming from? Me? Eventually she only has two choices, as she's already suffering. She can ask Maria for more in the relationship (and does, only to have Maria dismiss the "line" from the play and Val at the same time), or she can leave. No one wants to be imprisoned in a hopeless, heartbreaking situation where one is never going to be valued or prioritized. 6. As a French woman, Maria isn't going to get all anxious about the possibility of an affair with Val; after all, she's cut her hair and is wearing more masculine clothes to "live in the part." She also has played a young gay seducer before in the earlier play and film. Surely she would consider what an affair with a woman would be like. Val hasn't, I wager.

Binoche as always is a revelation; Stewart is a little too flighty, constantly in motion, but I was impressed anyway. (Still, I wondered what Lea Seydoux would have done with Val.) Moretz didn't too much for me. I really loved this film and hope others will see it with an open heart and mind..

At the peak of her illustrious international career, Maria Enders 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, that of the elder. She departs with her assistant to rehearse in Sils Maria; a remote region of the Alps.

A young Hollywood starlet with a notoriety for scandal is to take on the role of Sigrid, and Maria finds herself on the other side of the mirror, face to face with an ambiguously charming woman who is, in essence, an unsettling reflection of herself......

This is one of those films that passes under the radar at cinemas this time of year, because the screens are flooded with Avengers, Maxes who are Mad, and car related sequels, and it's a crying shame, because it's a wonderful insight into a career turning on its head.

Binoche is wonderful as Helena, the ageing star who begins to fear mortality when it's announced she will play the reflection of her star turning performance twenty years previous. It's as if she she has been giving a resurgence by something that made her famous, but in turn, does that make her a has been?

We see it every now and again in remakes, the stars of the original who have peaked many years before make a guest appearance. Mitchum and Peck did it in Cape Fear with relative flair, and Chris Sarandon went unnoticed in the remake of Fright Night, so for Helena, its a huge risk to dent her wonderful career.

But that's only the tip of the film. The real meat is the relationship between her and her assistant, wonderfully played by Stewart. The more of these wonderful, of the wall roles she does, the more Twilight fades from memory.

There are times when you forget that they are practicing the play, and you think that they are actually having arguments, and sexually advancing toward one another. But the rehearsals overlap into their real life, and the sexual tension rises between the two, and the play overlaps into real life.

Moretz is good in her extended cameo, but it feels like she is just there as a red herring to make the ending seem more like a twist.

If you have a chance to see it, do it, it's a pretty somber affair in places, and hilarious in others.

And it would make a great companion piece with Maps To The Stars, which ironically starred Robert Pattinson.

Life imitating art indeed.