Clouds Of Sils Maria Review: The Passing Of Youth

French filmmaker Olivier Assayas’ Clouds Of Sils Maria could pass for a Richard Linklater film. Or for a Abbas Kiaraostami movie – he made the brilliant Certified Copy. The narrative is shouldered by conversations – between the ageing superstar Maria (Juliette Binoche) and her diligent young assistant Valetine (Kristen Stewart); between Maria and newbie Jo Ann (Chloë Grace Moretz). Some are casual conversations that snowball into arguments of serious consequence; others are confrontations that lead to emotional outbursts.

*****

Maria isn’t young anymore; she’s not quite the bewitching, seductive beauty she once was.  Here’s an unsure former superstar passing through the ‘star-to-blackhole’ phase. Things come to a head when she is forced to play the older of two lead roles in the remake of Snake Maloja, a play that launched her to stardom when she was just 18.  She was the young, free spirited Sigrid in the original version of the lesbian drama, and now,  she is asked to play the older, more vulnerable Helena.

The last straw that breaks her.

Like Linklater’s Before series, Clouds Of Sils Maria too starts with a train journey. Maria and Valentine, are travelling to Sils Maria, a beautiful locale situated in the Alps. The town is hosting an award ceremony to honour the genius that directed Snake Maloja. Enroute, a message arrives that he is dead. A distraught Maria wants to go back, and Valentine takes it upon herself to persuade Maria to go there as planned.  Valentine juggles  between phone calls from the organisers and Maria; torn between her professional duties and her personal bond with the actress.

The movie traces each its characters down to their deepest depths, unraveling Maria’s darkest fears and her ego and catching the usually-cool Valentine breaking down by the side of a deserted road one foggy evening. The characters define the movie.

*****

 

It’s hard not to link the characters with the real life of the stars that play them. There are traces of Kristen Stewart in the younger Maria and Jo Ann – young women that shot to fame far too soon. Maria had a secret crush on director Wilhelm Melchior, a married man. Jo Ann is in love with a married man. And Kristen Stewart has been in the news for similar reasons.

Juliette Binoche and Maria are strikingly similar. Binoche, in this film, is a far cry from from the cherubic, rebellious teenager she was in The Unbearable Lightness Of Being. And slowly,  her identity blends in with that of Maria, who is silently mourning the loss of youth. When she says, “I am Sigrid”, in a desperate attempt to convince Klaus to give her the role, she shows all of Helena’s vulnerability. Binoche is effortlessly brilliant.

*****

The surprise package in the film however is Stewart as Valentine. Unlike the other women in the movie, Stewart dresses in jeans and casual shirts. Unkempt hair, tattoos and glasses complete her look, ensuring she stands out from the glossy world of celebrities she is dealing with.  It is a treat to watch her protest hen Maria, vexed with having to play Helena, starts losing her cool. “You don’t have to take it out on me”, she says, without letting the emotions overplay on her face. She is undoubtedly a fine actress.

The movie holds metaphorical resemblances with the Maloja’s Snake – a set of mysterious clouds that snake through the Engadin valley. They vanish as soon as they appear. Much like the youthfulness and stardom of Maria.

*****