Clouds of Sils Maria

I have wanted to see Clouds of Sils Maria for quite some time.  Kristen Stewart is one my favorite actresses and she has garnered quite a bit of buzz (not to mention a Cesar Award for Best Supporting Actress) so I was really excited to see her performance!  I was finally able to see it last night and I am still thinking about it (because of the ambiguous ending).  Juliette Binoche plays Maria Enders, a celebrated stage and screen actress who is approaching middle age and contemplating her legacy.  Stewart plays Valentine, Maria's personal assistant upon whom she depends for everything.  A young director approaches Maria about reviving the play which launched her career.  When she was eighteen, Maria portrayed Sigrid, a young woman who seduces and then ruthlessly abandons an older woman, driving her to suicide; now the director wants her to play Helena, the older woman.  She reluctantly agrees to the role and travels with Valentine to a remote mountain retreat in Switzerland to rehearse.  As Maria and Valentine read through the play (while hiking through the beautiful mountains of Switzerland), the lines spoken by the characters in the play also reflect the relationship between the two women.  During a particularly heated scene, which seemingly depicts the tension unfolding in their lives, Valentine reveals the script and reads the stage direction.  When the role of Sigrid is given to a young actress (Chloe Grace Moretz) known for her superhero movies and her bad behavior off camera, Maria becomes increasingly insecure.  It is an intense psychological drama exploring the themes of life imitating art, youth vs. experience, and talent vs. celebrity which reminded me a great deal of the movie Birdman.  Both Binoche and Stewart give incredible performances.  Stewart, especially, is captivating and I found it highly amusing when the two main characters do a Google search of the young actress and discover scandals which mirror Stewart's own personal life.  The expansive mountain scenery is incredibly beautiful (I love Switzerland) and forms the perfect backdrop for the almost claustrophobic tension.  I  also loved the juxtaposition of the music (Pachelbel and Handel for Maria and Primal Scream for Valentine) which reinforces the division between  Maria and Valentine.  While I loved the film, it is very slow moving and cerebral so I wouldn't recommend it for everyone.

Note:  My favorite scene is when Valentine defends superhero movies to a somewhat snobbish Maria by saying that the action is just a convention to communicate a deeper truth.  As someone who can appreciate both blockbusters and independent films, I really loved that!