Clouds of Sils Maria (***1/4)

The entertainment business fascinates many people, and entertainment business fascinates entertainers, so there are plenty of films about it. But there aren’t so many films about the creative process, the implicit subject of this film. Olivier Assayas has made one with Juliette Binoche, star of Summer Hours, his best-known film. She plays an actress, Maria Enders, presented with an opportunity to star in a revival of a play she did when she was 18. Only this time, rather than playing a teen vixen, she is to play a businesswoman seduced by her personal assistant. Yet still she identifies more with the younger character.

Maria discusses this primarily, but not solely with Valentine, her own, younger assistant (Kristen Stewart), who runs lines with her, sets appointments, and so on. The two relationships —the one in the play and the one between Maria and Valentine, run in parallel, but are different. Neither Maria nor Valentine are lesbians, for one thing. And while Maria finds the businesswoman she is supposed to play to be pathetic and foolish, Valentine sees it differently. They also clash, humorously, over a sci-fi film they see together. Valentine likes it, but Maria finds the women in spacesuits ridiculous.
 
The film is smart without being pretentious, though it’s talky. But if you get a worn out by all the talk, and you may, there are also some lovely scenes of the Swiss Alps, where a good part of the film is set.

IMDb link

viewed 10/19/14 2:20 p.m. and posted 10/21/14

On the Line (***) [2009 Oscar-nominated shorts program]

A store detective’s act of moral cowardice has tragic consequences in this Swiss short. An interesting central character and plot provides a good start, and I wouldn’t mind seeing a feature film begin with this half hour, but the last half doesn’t go anywhere that surprising.

IMDB link

viewed at Ritz Bourse and reviewed 2/11/09