Watch Clouds of Sils Maria For Free

A Masterpiece!

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Clouds of Sils Maria is about a renowned actress, Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche), who must confront her past demons as she reluctantly prepares for the part of an older woman in the same play where she once had the young starlet's role.The problems with Clouds of Sils Maria are many. Here are just a few:1. The writer / director is male. Men should not write female dialogue because they cannot get inside our heads. All three actresses come off highly masculine-sounding. The result? They show no vulnerability and give us nothing female movie-goers can relate to.2. The direction. Kristen Stewart and Juliette Binoche showed no range or femininity. Especially, Ms. Stewart. This is the director's fault. 3. Editing. Scenes abruptly stop. Scenes go nowhere. Example: Are we to guess that because Stewart's character is vomiting on the side of the road, she is pregnant? And why does Stewart's character just abruptly disappear from Maria's employ? Why does Maria's hair go from shoulder-length to butch? For her part in the play? Of course that is the reason. But we shouldn't see her head of hair just go from point A to point B with no explanation. It's little things like that...Clouds of Sils Maria would have been much better if told without a lot of the unnecessary extraneous nuggets the writer included like the boyfriend and his wife's attempted suicide. Both unnecessary characters.Clouds of Sils Maria would have rolled in like the real Clouds of Sils Maria had a female directed. A female director would have been able to help find the actresses' unique voices in their characters' flaws, and strengths, as women.In addition, the story would have been richer if Chloe Grace Moretz's character had physically come into the story much sooner, and the writer had nixed the storyline about the boyfriend and his wife's suicide attempt, focusing more on- and building up to- Binoche and Moretz's confrontation and collaboration. Lastly, if the director was trying to show us at the end of the movie that Maria DID have an epiphany, he definitely didn't allow Ms. Binoche proper time and acting to transform herself to show she had that epiphany. The movie just abruptly ends. Don't waste your time with Clouds of Sils Maria. Just because it was officially selected in three film festivals doesn't mean it is a well-written or a well-directed movie. In this case, it probably means the film festival directors selected the film to draw in audiences using the stars' names and popularity.If this were a perfect world, and people gave a crap, they would insist more female writers/script doctors and more female directors are at the helm of every movie where the subject involves more than one female.

As beautiful as this movie is to look at, I found it a little over- complicated with too many confusing sub-plots, several of which are aborted. Early on, it looks like the presence of an old flame on-set is going to be a major issue for Binoche, but that melts away. It looks like her relationship with the young actress playing the lead is going to be an issue, but that only leads to one minor spat near the end. Her PA rehearses scenes with her in a way that implies some sort of Sapphic love, but this evaporates too (except perhaps in the mysterious nauseous episode). Plenty to mull over. But fabulous scenery, esp. the breathtaking 'Snake' of cloud, and great performances from both Binoche (more animated than ever before) and Stewart.

The great performances of the actors in the film are offset only by the stubbornness of the director to not display anything else. Complex characters played brilliantly by Binoche, Stewart and Moretz express so many different emotions related to the female psyche - after all, the film was written at Binoche's challenge to Olivier Assayas to make a movie about women - yet they refuse to describe any coherent one character. I feel that this is on purpose, as all three women are basically just facets of the same archetypal female.With this material and these talented women, it could have been a great film, however Assayas' work is defiled by his own ego. The stories of the characters interweave with his life and work, with connections to some of his films, including the one that he wrote for Binoche for her first major role and reminding, for no good reason, of Ingmar Bergman's work. In the end, when you are left wondering "what the hell was this film about?", you realize that it is a lot about the guy that both wrote and directed it. Big surprise there!That being said, my conclusion is that it is a very difficult to rate a movie. Great performances, nice direction, good soundtrack and a plot that weaves into itself to tease the viewer into subtleties of emotion and understanding. Yet if you, like me, couldn't give a damn about Olivier Assayas, you will find it difficult to accept the ending that provides no resolution whatsoever. Perhaps it is a brush of genius, though: if it's really about women, then you only get a series of WTF moments including the final one. It's a play on a play about a play.

'CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA': Four Stars (Out of Five)Critically acclaimed drama flick; about a middle-aged movie star, that's asked to costar in a revival of the play that made her famous (20 years earlier). The film stars Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart and Chloe Grace Moretz. All three actresses received rave reviews for their performances; with Stewart becoming the first American actress to ever win a Cesar Award (for Best Supporting Actress). The movie was written and directed by Olivier Assayas. I enjoyed the great performances, and the film's clever dialogue.Maria Enders (Binoche) is an international movie star, and veteran stage actress, that's been popular for 2 decades now. She's asked to costar in a revival of the play 'Maloja Snake'; which made her famous 20 years earlier. This time she's asked to play an older role though; of two female leading characters, in a lesbian love story of betrayal. Maria reluctantly takes the part, and struggles with it deeply. She rehearses the role, with her assistant Valentine (Stewart); whom she also has feelings for. The movie is a pretty insightful look at stardom (in the film and play world). It's an especially interesting look at what it's like to be an aging star; watching someone younger, replace you (in many ways). The performances are all great, and the dialogue always kept me interested. It's a little long, at 2 hours, but it never feels too slow-paced. If you're interested in film, you should probably enjoy it.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/EuKmXpjFt-k