
The first real professional success for famed French actress Maria Enders was twenty years ago as the co-lead in writer Wilhelm Melchoir's play and subsequent movie "Maloja Snake", he who picked Maria, then an unknown, personally. She played Sigrid, an opportunistic eighteen year old in an emotionally dependent lesbian relationship with forty year old Helena, who was at a vulnerable stage of her life. Maria has turned down the play's upcoming London revival in which she would... (Full plot summary below)
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The first real professional success for famed French actress Maria Enders was twenty years ago as the co-lead in writer Wilhelm Melchoir's play and subsequent movie "Maloja Snake", he who picked Maria, then an unknown, personally. She played Sigrid, an opportunistic eighteen year old in an emotionally dependent lesbian relationship with forty year old Helena, who was at a vulnerable stage of her life. Maria has turned down the play's upcoming London revival in which she would now play Helena, it remounted by director Klaus Diesterweg. Her reasons for turning down the role are many including: being at a vulnerable stage of her own life going through a painful divorce; remembering the suicide of Susan Rosenberg, the original Helena, following the original run of the play, the suicide purportedly mirroring what happens to Helena; and the painful memories of the production in still having hard feelings toward who was her older male costar, Henryk Wald, with who she had an affair at the time. Maria reconsiders and accepts the role when Wilhelm unexpectedly passes away, she hearing the news en route to the Zurich Film Festival where she was to accept an award on recluse Wilhelm's behalf. Maria begins to regret her decision, largely due to having to work with nineteen year old Jo-Ann Ellis as Sigrid, Jo-Ann a trained actress whose Hollywood lifestyle is making her self-destruct, this behavior which Maria, who hates the Internet and the Hollywood gossip on it, did not know before signing the contract. But what may be most difficult for Maria is the role opening up her own professional relationship and friendship with her younger American personal assistant, Valentine, the two who are staying at Wilhelm's mountain retreat in Sils Maria in the Swiss Alps, where Maria is preparing for the play and where many of the locations were inspiration for the play's themes.
Leave your thoughts about Clouds of Sils Maria.
| Time OutDavid EhrlichIt’s a sexy concept that will thrill Assayas neophytes, but the director’s longtime fans will find its pleasures virtually pornographic. |
| Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)Ken HankeRemarkable and richly layered film examining the thin line between art and life, about change, aging, death and identity, built on splendid performances by Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart |
| The Stranger (Seattle, WA)Charles MudedeAssayas knows the elite region of entertainers inside and out, and Stewart's performance will make you see her beyond the horrors and stupidities of the Twilight series. |
| Urban CinefileLouise KellerSuperlative performances are the reason to watch this engrossing, occasionally self-indulgent film that explores the female psyche and responses to age, self-image and changing times within the acting world |
| NewsdayJohn AndersonAstounding performances by Binoche and Stewart, in a film that keeps the viewer constantly off-balance. |
| Tiny Mix TapesDerek Smithhile it shares a similar atmospheric style, pacing and pathos as his other films, it may be [Assayas'] most complex and rewarding one to date. |
| Groucho ReviewsPeter CanaveseAssayas implies that what transpires between the characters of Clouds of Sils Maria, between artists and art, and between art and audiences contains its own beautiful mystery that's nourishing, maddening, and essential. |
| Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)John BeifussMoviegoers who require stories that direct the characters from A to B with the efficiency of Valentine's misplaced road map may be frustrated, but those who embrace a ramble -- the women twice find themselves lost, literally -- may be enthralled. |
| The Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)Tara ThorneLess a narrative than a character study, it's a sometimes-frustrating but nonetheless curious, enthralling experience seeing the very low-key American Stewart do battle with Binoche's elegant, European diva. |
| Movie TalkJason BestClouds of Sils Maria is talky and slow moving, yet the interplay of its leading women is as mesmerising as the strange weather phenomenon - a cloud bank pouring through an alpine pass - that gives the film its title. |