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How entertaining? ★★★★★
Thought provoking? ★★★☆☆ 3 February 2015
This article is a review of CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA.Seen at the Busan International Film Festival 2014. (For more information, click here.)
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“The cockroaches must have taken a later train,” Valentine (Kristen Stewart)
A cerebral ENTOURAGE is a statement that only scratches the surface of a deliriously written and acted treatise on craft and time passing. If words were bullets, CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA would be the equivalent of a John Woo flick from the 1990s. Varying speed, cadence and dexterity glue you to proceedings. At no point is the audience underestimated. Focus people, focus; there is no respite for attention deficit stragglers.
A cerebral ENTOURAGE is a statement that only scratches the surface of a deliriously written and acted treatise on craft and time passing. If words were bullets, CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA would be the equivalent of a John Woo flick from the 1990s. Varying speed, cadence and dexterity glue you to proceedings. At no point is the audience underestimated. Focus people, focus; there is no respite for attention deficit stragglers.
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On a train to Switzerland, Valentine (Stewart – in a role requiring more than her honed brand of sullen taciturnity) juggles two mobile phones, and hectic schedule, for acting doyenne Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche). Talk between Valentine and Maria of internet fame for the latter appearing in a X-MEN movie raises sly chortles:
- Binoche in that franchise would certainly have been something,
- We are clearly in a parallel universe, where her Maria acts opposite the likes of Harrison Ford,
- An aging actress in demand for Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters is a state of the industry sideswipe.
The virtual entirety of the runtime consists of women talking intelligently amongst themselves, about ideas of substance, is rarely shown in modern cinema.
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We have walked in on Maria Enders just as she is to have a profound reassessment of her life. The journey to the Swiss Alps is for the tribute to playwright and filmmaker Wilhelm Melchior, the man who gifted her big break in the production “Maloja Snake”, where she played 18-year old Sigrid who causes the 40-year old Helena to commit suicide after their affair. (Multiple analogies will be offered.) A sudden call, announcing Wilhelm’s death at 72, begins Maria’s career navel gaze that does not let up for two hours. Alarm bells may be going off, but do not worry. Binoche has re-teamed with writer-director Olivier Assayas – the previous pinnacle of both their oeuvres is SUMMER HOURS (perhaps a controversial assessment in Binoche’s case considering her curriculum vitae includes THREE COLOURS BLUE, HIDDEN and THE ENGISH PATIENT – the less said on trying to out-run radiation in GODZILLA the better).
Production of “Maloja Snake” is looking to be resurrected by wunderkind director Lars Eidinger (Klaus Diesterweg), this time with the headline grabbing casting of Enders in the Helena role, and paparazzi catnip young actress Jo-Ann Ellis (Chloë Grace Moretz) as Sigrid. Triggering soul searching and endless discussions with Valentine, ranging from art to psychology, CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA almost reaches novelisitc levels of human analysis.
Striking locales and assured, understated direction transcend the theatrical, in a film about the stage’s unexpected impact. Use of two ellipses almost makes the singular one in THERE WILL BE BLOOD appear complacent. Almost.
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