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.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.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.
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
29K
YOUR RATING
- Awards
- 20 wins & 46 nominations
Videos3
Nora Waldstätten
- Actress in Sci-fi Movieas Actress in Sci-fi Movie
- (as Nora von Waldstätten)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
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 time. Maria reconsiders and accepts the role when Wilhelm unexpectedly passes away, she hearing the news en route to the Zurich Film Festival where she was to accept an award on recluse Wilhelm's behalf. Maria begins to regret her decision, largely due to having to work with nineteen year old Jo-Ann Ellis as Sigrid, Jo-Ann a trained actress whose Hollywood lifestyle is making her self-destruct, this behavior which Maria, who hates the Internet and the Hollywood gossip on it, did not know before signing the contract. But what may be most difficult for Maria is the role opening up her own professional relationship and friendship with her younger American personal assistant, Valentine, the two who are staying at Wilhelm's mountain retreat in Sils Maria in the Swiss Alps, where Maria is preparing for the play and where many of the locations were inspiration for the play's themes. —Huggo
- Genre
- Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated R for language and brief graphic nudity
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaThe French fashion house Chanel supplied the actresses with clothes, jewelry, accessories and makeup, while also providing some of the budget to allow Olivier Assayas to fulfill his dream of shooting the movie on 35-mm film instead of digitally.
- GoofsIn the opening, the characters are riding in what is clearly a second-class rail car. This would be completely out of character, given what we see later in the movie.
- Crazy creditsDuring the closing credits, four of the actors are shown under the heading "guest appearance by".
- SoundtracksKowalski
Written by Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Innes, Robert Young, Martin Duffy, and Mani (as Gary Mounfield)
Performed by Primal Scream.
Top review
Ambiguity
Ambiguity is the key world of this film. You are the major actor in the sense that your interpretation makes the film. Each scene is so ambiguous that you can always interpret it in various manners so in the end _you_ are the director. When Maria and Val work on the text, rehearse the play, the feelings are so mingled that you are the one who decide if they are those of Helena- Sigrid or rather Maria-Val. Reality is entangled. I loved the Alps hiking shots and overall the mysterious Maloja snake. I would have rated it a 9 to the Writer-Director Olivier Assayas but reduced it to a 8 because I was disappointed in Juliette Binoche's performance. She is usually better than in this film, it is as if she didn't feel like acting this character, a bit like what happens in the film itself. At several occasions her laugh is artificial and fake. She is obviously ill at ease in this character, which proves what I wrote before about entangled reality between the film itself and the play prepared in the film. I'm not sure I am very clear but those who have seen and felt/perceived the movie as I, will understand.
helpful•175
- cyberalpine
- Dec 28, 2016
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Những Bóng Mây Của Sils Maria
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,851,517
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $61,810
- Apr 12, 2015
- Gross worldwide
- $4,728,401
- Runtime2 hours 4 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.40 : 1
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