Clouds of Sils Maria

— I missed this film when it was in theaters but I’m sure glad I checked it out on DVD. It’s an incredibly complex and intimate film. Juliette Binoche is wonderful as Maria, a 40-year-old star no longer able to play the parts she wants, whose personal assistant, Val, played with amazing finesse by Kirsten Stewart, is her able organizer, confidant, and friend. Maria has been signed to play in a stage version of the film that made her famous when she was 18, but this time she’ll be the vulnerable older boss instead of the young, personal assistant seducing her boss, a role to be played by an up-and-coming star who is comfortable as fodder for the TMZ world. There isn’t a straight path in this film and there’s plenty of dialogue as the scenes unfold, touching on the complexities of art and reality, youth and experience, and beauty and wisdom. With several layers and subplots started but not continued, it’s no surprise the story itself doesn’t exactly end even if the film does. If you like neat packages or definitive ways of living, this may not be your film. For me, even the parts that seemed a little too rambling were still fascinating since all the dialogue seemed real and the vaguely blurry line between stage and life only reminded me of the blurry lines we all have as we step among the parts of our lives.

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[2015. 124 min. Directed by Olivier Assayas. Starring Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart, and Cloe Grace Moretz.]
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/10/movies/review-in-clouds-of-sils-maria-a-celebration-turns-into-a-memorial.html?_r=0