CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA

Films don't come much better than this 2014 masterpiece, written and directed by Olivier Assayas.  Its many virtues have often been extolled on the Screen Drafts podcast, and I am so glad I got around to watching it at last.

The central relationship is between a very successful actress Maria (Juliette Binoche) and her personal assistant Val (Kristen Stewart).

Maria's breakthrough performance some 20-odd years earlier was in a play where she played a young woman Sigrid whose relationship with an older woman Helena ends in the latter's suicide, when Sigrid dumps her.

Maria has agreed (somewhat reluctantly) to play the part of Helena in a revival of the play.  As part of her preparation, she and Val run through some of the scenes together. These scenes suggest to us that the relationship between Helena and Sigrid mirrors in some ways that of Maria and Val.  But only in some respects. 

For example there is no suggestion that Val is deliberately taking advantage of Maria. Nevertheless it becomes apparent to us that Maria is highly dependent on Val whilst Val is increasingly frustrated with Maria's inability to see her point of view on various matters, and with Maria's insularity.

Maria now has to accept that time has moved on, symbolised by her now playing the older role. In a 20-minute coda at the end, following Val's departure, there is a short brutal scene between Maria and the actress now playing Sigrid (played by Chloë Grace Moretz).  

But although Helena is so vulnerable that she takes her own life, Maria seems to be made of sterner stuff.  At the end of the film she has a new personal assistant, her divorce is being finalised, and she is considering the offer of a new film role.  

That she is not like Helena is foreshadowed earlier on when she complains that she doesn't find Helena a very believable character.  Or maybe that just symbolises her resistance to the passing of time.  

The other theme (aside from aging) is the nature of theatre and role playing.  The multi-layered dialogue does full justice to these themes without ever feeling schematic, because the three main characters are all so fully realised.

And the three lead performances are faultless.  I realised watching this that I have never fully appreciated Binoche up to now.  The reason for this blind spot is (rather absurdly) that in my mind I always associate her with 'The English Patient', a film I detest.  Note to self: must do better.

I always love a European film where the dialogue moves effortlessly between different languages, as it does here.  In that respect this film would make a wonderful double bill with 'Anatomy of a Fall', also set in the Alps.  In fact let's make it a triple bill by throwing in 'Force Majeure' as well....

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