Clouds of Sils Maria – Mellow, Smart and Compelling

Directed and written by Olivier Assayas. Produced by Karl Baumgartner, Charles Gillibert, Thanassis Karathanos, Jean-Louis Porchet, and Gérard Ruey. Release date: April 10, 2015.

It’s always difficult to begin a review of a movie as rich and complex as Clouds of Sils Maria, because the temptation exists to get right into the meat of it, potentially spoiling important segments and not laying the groundwork for those who likely haven’t seen it. This feeling occurs because when a movie like this one crosses a critic’s plate, it stands out from the typical movie, which is disposable, predictable, and barely worth a review, let alone a more in-depth discussion. Make no mistake: Clouds of Sils Maria is worth all of that and more.

The film stars Juliette Binoche as Maria, a famous movie actress. At her side is her personal assistant, Valentine (Kristen Stewart). They begin the film on their way to pay tribute to a director who cast Maria in a play called Maloja Snake, which saw a much younger Maria playing an intern at a company whose relationship with her older boss is … let’s just call it “interesting” and leave it at that. While on the way, the director passes away. Perhaps looking to capitalize on the publicity, a different director contacts Maria and asks if she’ll star in a reboot of the play that made her famous, but playing the older woman, not the role she originally made famous. Most of the movie after this point takes place in Sils Maria, where Maria and Valentine rehearse the play together.

Does that sound interesting? Perhaps to a few of you out there, but the story itself seems largely bereft of action. However, I described the outline of the play for a good reason: the relationship that occurred in the play is going to, at least in portions, show up in the relationship between Maria and Valentine. Yes, theirs is an interesting one. When they rehearse, we begin to wonder whether this is their play-characters talking, or if it’s themselves. In addition, we are also given an often disturbing look into the behind-the-scenes lives of famous people, both with the older Maria, and the young woman who has been cast opposite her in the play, Jo-Ann (Chloë Grace Moretz). At times, it almost feels like there’s a meta-narrative, much like 2014’s Best Picture winner Birdman – although it rarely tries to make you laugh like Birdman did. It’s more restrained and more mellow; rarely does it energize its audience.

Every scene and each conversation in a film like this one can be interpreted in various ways, and you have to pay attention to the way that they progress in order to figure out the true relationships between the characters and what various dialogues mean. Even though it’s a very “talky” movie, it’s never boring if you’ve got your thinking caps on. It’s true that there are some people who will discard it because it’s simply not their type of movie, and that’s fine; no movie is loved unanimously, after all. But if it sounds like something you might be interested in, it’s definitely worth giving a shot.

Prior to its American release, Kristen Stewart accomplished something no other American actress had ever done: She was awarded the César Award for best supporting actress. The César Awards, for those unaware, are essentially the French version of the Academy Awards. The film itself was nominated for five other César Awards, but the only category in which it was successful was the one granted to Stewart. It’s worth mentioning this to continue propelling forward the observation that, outside of the Twilight franchise and the Snow White and the Huntsman disaster, she’s had a series of good-to-great performances over what’s still a young career.

Unsurprisingly, Stewart is really good in Clouds of Sils Maria – perhaps even more so than either Binoche or Moretz, although they’re both wonderful, too. All of the conversations between Binoche and Stewart are fantastic, and just watching them exist – as caricatures of themselves if you read it that way or as complex movie characters – and interact with one another is more than compelling enough to anchor the entire movie. Add in Chloë Grace Moretz for a few scenes – as a young starlet, the likes of whom the other two make fun of earlier in the film – and you’ve got a talented cast of actors who have been given a rich screenplay, written by director Olivier Assayas, that will give viewers something to chew on for not only the two hours it plays, but for some time after it concludes.

Bottom Line:Clouds of Sils Maria is an excellent thinking-person’s movie, filled with all sorts of subtle tensions and dramatic moments that will keep you engaged from start to finish thanks to slick direction, a strong script, and fantastic acting.

Recommendation: If Clouds of Sils Maria sounds like your kind of movie, check it out when it opens near you.

[rating=4.5]

If you want more of Matthew “Marter” Parkinson, you can follow him on the Twitter @Martertweet and check out his weekly movie podcast.