Rent Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)

Tedious, pretentious, plotness yawn-fest - Clouds of Sils Maria review by PV

I read reviews of this film in newspapers - most were 3 stars out of 5. I wonder were the watching the same film as have just suffered?

It's all an almost-plotless tale of actresses putting on a play. Then seems to morph into a movie which wants to examine the nature of fame and celebrity. Well, I have seen better and more entertaining analyses of that in 30 second TV adverts.

Some dire subplot about an affair and things happening to people we know nothing about are care even less about confuses matters.

Oh and it's all trying to be arthouse with pretty pictures of Swiss mountains and clouds.

Really REALLY bad. And not in French - as I had expected - and no subtitles. And the great Juliette Binoche is utterly wasted - what on earth is she doing in such a shambles of a movie?

If a film student submitted a screenplay this tedious it would be torn in half and the student told to leave film school.

Perhaps worth watching as an example of how NOT to make a good film.

Otherwise, don't bother.

interesting and complex character study by Juliette Binoche - Clouds of Sils Maria review by PS

This film is full of parallels. Juliette Binoche plays a mature actor, like herself, who reluctantly agrees to play the part of the older woman in a play in which she made her name as the young lead years ago. She plays out scenes from the play with her assistant, so that their relationship also parallels her relationship with the younger actress and her younger self. The stunning scenery and the "snake" mist formation in the valley where she stays, preparing for the film, forms another layer, as it twists and winds towards the mountain. The question the film poses is how can she be fully vulnerable as she plays this ageing actor, thus showing her maturity as an artist, without somehow losing herself in longing for her younger, more carefree and more daring self? It is a slowish film, but it is worth being patient with it as it inexorably draws to its subtle and poignant end.

Stage Fright in the Alps - Clouds of Sils Maria review by griggs

Two women rehearse a play in the Swiss Alps, but the real drama unfolds off the page. Clouds of Sils Maria pairs Juliette Binoche as a celebrated actress with Kristen Stewart as her sharp, quietly enigmatic assistant, their dynamic laced with tension, affection, and what might be a dash of queer subtext.

Olivier Assayas knows how to let personalities seep through performances. Binoche’s natural warmth and Stewart’s cool reserve create an electric push-pull that feels both intimate and competitive. The shifting balance of power between them is as absorbing as the script they are dissecting — even if that script (and sometimes the film’s own dialogue) can edge towards the overwritten.

Assayas frames it all with a light but assured touch, allowing silences, glances, and sudden shifts in tone to do much of the work. The result is a layered character study that rewards close attention and reminds me why I value Assayas so highly; he trusts his actors, and in doing so, trusts the audience.