I was told before viewing Clouds of Sils Maria of its similarity to “a female version of Birdman”. While both films contain similar plot elements, I completely disagree with such statement. Clouds of Sils Maria is its own wonderfully unique film with an impressive cast, story, and cinematography. The film stars Juliette Binoche as aging stage actress Maria Enders. After the unexpected death of an old director (to whom she owes her career), Maria and her assistant Valentine (Kristen Stewart) stay at his home in Sils Maria, a secluded area within the Alps of Switzerland. While there, Maria’s offered a co-starring role in a remake of Maloja Snake, the very play which gained her acclaim 20 years ago. Instead of the same role—as the young seductress Sigrid—Maria would instead play Helena, a disheartened, middle-age woman who’s enticed and used by Sigrid until possibly committing suicide (whether she does or not is left ambiguous). Maria reluctantly accepts the role, yet begins regretting such decision as she practices lines with Valentine over their time spent in Sils Maria.
I wrote in my Still Alice review how despite some problematic decisions, Kristen Stewart is an overall good actor. After seeing Clouds of Sils Maria, I take such statement back; Stewart isn’t a good actor, she’s a very good one! As Valentine, Stewart has bested her Still Alice performance with her most impressive role to date. Stewart doesn’t accomplish this alone, however, working alongside Juliette Binoche’s own topnotch performance. Binoche and Stewart’s characters work as effective contrasts, serving to enhance and complement each other’s performance. Maria is a character doused in old-school acting regality, having a sizable amount of dignity and etiquette. Maria is aware her time in the spotlight is fading, and is terrified of slipping into the role of Helena, which blatantly symbolizes her fear of aging into obsoleteness (it doesn’t help matters that the last actor who played Helena died soon after). Valentine in contrast is a young aspiring optimist around the same age Maria was when she first rose to fame. Valentine is competent with modern technology—whereas Maria is out-of-touch—and on the ball with the newest celebrity gossip, especially regarding who’s popular at the moment (she convinces Maria to take the role due to its director being quite famous and successful). Valentine is Maria’s connection to a world she’s slowly losing touch with, yet she is also a reminder of what Maria use to have.
It becomes apparent how Clouds of Sils Maria is paralleling the fictional play Maloja Snake—which is named after the very cloud formations in Sils Maria. The film is separated into “parts”, fades to the next scene similar to a curtain closing, and most importantly has its characters symbolize the play’s actors. Valentine adores the young actress hired to play Sigrid, Jo-Ann Ellis (Chloë Grace Moretz). Unlike Maria, Ellis is a spoiled modern celebrity, making the tabloids for her scandals, violent outbursts, crude nature and rehab trips. She does what she wants and gets away with it too, which is exactly what Valentine adores about her, considering Ellis her favorite celebrity (one could make a connection between Valentine’s admiration for Ellis and Kristen Stewart’s own real-life scandals). Such admiration bothers Maria, who thought she was Valentine’s favorite celebrity; just as Helena craves attention from the young Sigrid, so does Maria begin striving for Valentine’s devotion as her assistant. Such symbolism approaches the forefront during the line rehearsal scenes, where Valentine reads the lines of Sigrid as Maria frustratingly tries acting as Helena. These rehearsal scenes are delightfully entertaining to watch, combining surprise comedy and engaging commentary with a sense of underlining reality which nearly manifests on several occasions. Not everything is completely parallel however, as Maria can act equally similar to Sigrid, draining everything from the openhanded Valentine while dealing subtle abuse. Both Binoche and Stewart give terrific performances, complimenting each other’s characters, as well as the film’s plot to a higher level of effectiveness.
The actors may elevate the film to a grander level, but what captivates in the first place is Clouds of Sils Maria’s magnificent cinematography! The entire film is dripping with gorgeousness, with scenes lining up to showcase the beauty of Switzerland, combined with impressive cinematic shots from director Oliver Assayas. The entire Swiss landscape is beautiful, from the impressive Alps to the lush forests to the ever-changing weather. In one scene our duo travels over mountainous landscapes during a cloudy snowstorm, only for the weather to transform over-hill into a bright, sunny landscape. The film’s shading is remarkably well-made, particularly during the evening scenes where it invokes a deep sense of tranquility. Similar to the weather, the film’s mood can rapidly shift: in one scene Maria gazes outside during a peaceful, cloudy evening, thunder faintly heard in the distance; the scene quickly changes to Valentine driving, the mood disrupted by a chaotic frenzy of blurred imagery and loud music. The film’s most stunning imagery are the clouds of Sils Maria, aka the Maloja Snake. The Maloja Snake is a natural phenomenon where clouds slither down the mountainside pass in a snake-like formation. The film builds-up anticipation with clips from Arnold Fanck’s Cloud Phenomena of Maloja, a marvelous silent-era film which captures the wondrous serenity of the clouds and area (here’s a link to the short film). The marvel is vividly shown at the end of Part II, unified simultaneously with classical orchestration and the film’s climax to create a beautiful, melancholy scene.