Clouds of Sils Maria seems to carry a lot on its surface, such that in some respects - notably the suggested but never directly determined reflection of the relationship between Sigrid and Helena in that between Binoche's Maria and Kristen Stewart's Valentine, and indeed between Maria and Chloe Grace Moretz's Jo-Ann, the rather obvious metaphor of the Maloja Snake (the cloud formation, in addition to the synecdoche (?) that is Maloja Snake the play) and the somewhat obvious (dangerously close to trite) dialogue about art and movies themselves - it seems decidedly simple, even artlessly so.
Yet, in contrast to that impression, the film as whole registers as profoundly poetic and enigmatic, not least in the satisfyingly elusively real feeling to its rendition of its characters and their relationships and interactions and the spaces between them, legible in what they say (or don't), and how, and also in their physicality (and that latter rarely, if indeed ever, in a way that's explicit or obvious). Curiously, in those respects the film that it most reminded me of was Closer, with which it doesn't otherwise have a great deal in common (at least not on the surface).
And then there's the direction more generally, unexpected cuts and transitions and all, along with the generally undistracting but always intelligent and occasionally outright beautiful cinematography, especially in and amidst the Alps where much of the action - such as it is - takes place.
So really, it's on that deeper, more allusive level that Clouds really does operate, in a way that's integrated with the - increasingly interesting, the more its implications sink in, even without the meta-textual dimension of Assayas' own casting, which itself is, I think, integral - layers of plot, character and theme. For all that it appears to lay out on the surface what its concerns are, there's something altogether more slippery and difficult to pin down going on in its interstices (which, of course, are fundamental to what it, itself, is) - to which there's clue, climax and anti-climax in the ending of the second part and the unresolved epilogue.
Speaking of casting, as an aside, Juliette Binoche is a personal icon essentially entirely because of Three Colours: Blue in ways that have to do with every aspect of her self as an actor including her beauty (still luminous many years on) and Moretz has been a welcome streak of energy through everything that I've seen her in throughout her shortish career, but for mine Kristen Stewart (who I've always said was a really rather good actor) is the stand out, producing an unaffected, naturalistic performance that brings Valentine to life while - ipso facto but this is all too rarely the case in film - also holds within it a sense of unnamed depths and mystery.
(w/ Jade)
Yet, in contrast to that impression, the film as whole registers as profoundly poetic and enigmatic, not least in the satisfyingly elusively real feeling to its rendition of its characters and their relationships and interactions and the spaces between them, legible in what they say (or don't), and how, and also in their physicality (and that latter rarely, if indeed ever, in a way that's explicit or obvious). Curiously, in those respects the film that it most reminded me of was Closer, with which it doesn't otherwise have a great deal in common (at least not on the surface).
And then there's the direction more generally, unexpected cuts and transitions and all, along with the generally undistracting but always intelligent and occasionally outright beautiful cinematography, especially in and amidst the Alps where much of the action - such as it is - takes place.
So really, it's on that deeper, more allusive level that Clouds really does operate, in a way that's integrated with the - increasingly interesting, the more its implications sink in, even without the meta-textual dimension of Assayas' own casting, which itself is, I think, integral - layers of plot, character and theme. For all that it appears to lay out on the surface what its concerns are, there's something altogether more slippery and difficult to pin down going on in its interstices (which, of course, are fundamental to what it, itself, is) - to which there's clue, climax and anti-climax in the ending of the second part and the unresolved epilogue.
Speaking of casting, as an aside, Juliette Binoche is a personal icon essentially entirely because of Three Colours: Blue in ways that have to do with every aspect of her self as an actor including her beauty (still luminous many years on) and Moretz has been a welcome streak of energy through everything that I've seen her in throughout her shortish career, but for mine Kristen Stewart (who I've always said was a really rather good actor) is the stand out, producing an unaffected, naturalistic performance that brings Valentine to life while - ipso facto but this is all too rarely the case in film - also holds within it a sense of unnamed depths and mystery.
(w/ Jade)
