Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)

A film star comes face-to-face with an uncomfortable reflection of herself while starring in a revival of the play that launched her career.

Director:

Olivier Assayas

Writer:

Olivier Assayas

Stars:

Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart, Chloë Grace Moretz

19 wins & 42 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Juliette Binoche	...	Maria Enders
Kristen Stewart	...	Valentine
Chloë Grace Moretz	...	Jo-Ann Ellis
Lars Eidinger	...	Klaus Diesterweg
Johnny Flynn	...	Christopher Giles
Angela Winkler	...	Rosa Melchior
Hanns Zischler	...	Henryk Wald
Nora von Waldstätten	...	Actress in Sci-fi Movie
Brady Corbet	...	Piers Roaldson
Aljoscha Stadelmann	...	Urs Kobler
Claire Tran	...	Maria's London Assistant
Stuart Manashil	...	Maria's Agent
Peter Farkas	...	Journalist in Zürich
Ben Posener	...	Journalist in London
Ricardia Bramley	...	Talk Show Host

Storyline

The first real professional success for famed French actress Maria Enders was twenty years ago as the co-lead in writer Wilhelm Melchoir's play and subsequent movie "Maloja Snake", he who picked Maria, then an unknown, personally. She played Sigrid, an opportunistic eighteen year old in an emotionally dependent lesbian relationship with forty year old Helena, who was at a vulnerable stage of her life. Maria has turned down the play's upcoming London revival in which she would now play Helena, it remounted by director Klaus Diesterweg. Her reasons for turning down the role are many including: being at a vulnerable stage of her own life going through a painful divorce; remembering the suicide of Susan Rosenberg, the original Helena, following the original run of the play, the suicide purportedly mirroring what happens to Helena; and the painful memories of the production in still having hard feelings toward who was her older male costar, Henryk Wald, with who she had an affair at the ...

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Plot Keywords:

female pubic hair | female full frontal nudity | female removes her clothes | female rear nudity | nudity | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and brief graphic nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

Valentine's three visible tattoos: an eye, three fish, and a smile at the foot of a ladder, refer to Pablo Picasso's Guernica, a David Foster Wallace speech, and Henry Miller's novella "The Smile at the Foot of a Ladder." It was Stewart's idea to give Valentine so many tattoos as an indication of her inner life, and loved the Guernica image so much that after filming, she chose it as her first permanent tattoo.

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Goofs

in part two, during Maria's discussion with her assistant, Juliette Binoche will be seen picking up her glass of wine with the right hand (front shot), then seen using her left hand (shot from the back)

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Quotes

Maria Enders: [Against Valentine's suggestions, Maria leads them astray in the Alps] I think this road takes us to Maloja.
Valentine: What'll we do when we get to Maloja?
Maria Enders: Take the bus.
Valentine: You know you don't have to keep me on if you find my ideas simplistic.
Maria Enders: What makes you say that?
Valentine: If you find my point of view - uninteresting - I - I don't really know what I'm doing here. I can run lines with you but I don't really see the point. You can find anyone to do that.
Maria Enders: All I'm saying is that thinking about a text is different than ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

During the closing credits, four of the actors are shown under the heading "guest appearance by".

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Kristen Stewart/Dan Rather/Big Sean (2017)

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Soundtracks

Humble High
Written by Rupert Pope
Performed by Rupert Pope
Courtesy of Extreme Music
Piano music used in the movie trailer

User Reviews

Juliette Binoche: A career in acting...

I was very glad that i attended the opening ceremony of the Beirut International Film Festival with the presence of Juliette Binoche screening this touching movie! We're talking here about a festival movie so if you're not ready for a lot of talking scenes, well this is not for you! The story itself is brought by Binoche to director Olivier Assayas about an actress at the peak of her career who is asked again to play a role in a play that made her famous years ago! Let's be clear: this movie is all about stunning performances by a great Trio of actresses Binoche, Stewart and Moretz! Everyone was so great performing the characters. Binoche made it clear that this movie talk about her career and how can it be disturbed or touched emotionally on every level when she'll reach a certain age and when new generations of actors will rise! A must see for cinema lovers and especially for professional actors!

Details

Official Sites:

Juliette Binoche: The Art of Being - Official Fansite Official site [Japan]

Country:

France Germany Switzerland

Language:

English French German Swiss German

Release Date:

20 August 2014 (France)

Also Known As:

Clouds of Sils Maria

Filming Locations:

Sils-Maria, Kanton Graubünden, Switzerland

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$61,810, 12 April 2015

Gross USA:

$1,851,517

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,728,401

Company Credits

Production Co:

CG Cinéma, Pallas Film, CAB Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color Black and White (archive footage)

Aspect Ratio:

2.40 : 1