Creatively, I Need To Go There; Movie Review “The Clouds of Sils Maria” ~ Natalie
It’s not writer’s block. It’s only wanting to write so much about everything. Just today, I was thinking about the 21st Century; 2018. I immediately added 30 years more to 2018 and made a deal with my mind to be alive and well in 2048, maybe almost making it to 2050. Looking at life then, comparing it to the present and going back to the past; when the past is all we really have and have lived. So you must try to understand the importance of history to artists. It’s really the only way. People don’t want to read about something that doesn’t stimulate their brain, their feelings and even deeper, their emotions. Otherwise, what good is a book and a writer all about.
I’m in a state of conundrum, suspended in air looking down at my circumstances. I’m supposed to be opening my mind to new technical material that could prove to be very lucrative for the future. Never mind about that, I’ll get to that soon enough. I want to share with my readers.
Perhaps clarify their thoughts of ambiguity and in turn clarify mine. I’m in character and that is when I write the most interesting stories, the realness of life and it doesn’t hit you till you know you are truly there…the realness of life. These can be pivotal, a crux that will change and affect your life forever. I know each of us has experienced several, otherwise how would we survive the inevitable because more often than not we have to be brave; each of us. Do you realize that if you do one different thing in your life, it will affect the entire outcome. That is why so many philosophers, writers, authors, artists and poets want to transform a part of history to the present. It’s all relatable you know. This is the trick to writing; making it sound terribly interesting and evasive. Who is this person in this story? Who is this author or writer?
I’ve had some alone time, shall we say to do as I wish. To think as I wish, to ponder my circumstances and alternatives. So last night, I could have used a glass of wine to interpret the movie I chose to watch on Netflix. There are people, actors who appeal to our senses and maybe even our audaciousness; yes, to be bold. To think bold. That’s the story of my life and maybe even yours.
She is French and alluring and I read this in French. “L’actrice révèle le soin qui lui fait du bien, les crèmes qu’elle aime, les parfums qui la rendent enivrante … ce sont des choses dont il se souviendra.” Translation, “An actress reveals the care that is good for her, the creams she likes, the scents that make her intoxicating …these are the things he will remember.”
Phoebe was too young to make such an impression. Too self centered but unwise enough to make him her lover. She was a clever girl and when her and her lover met with this timeless perfect actress as a real person, Phoebe presented her most charming side. Already, affecting the older actresses preset notions of maybe looking at a younger version of herself. Going back more than 25 years, when Maria Enders was a young 19 year old girl playing the exact role Phoebe was playing in the movie and eventually the play. Even the characters names were too American for such a French landscape with glamour and fashion couture.
Maria Enders, who I would have called Elena, was vulnerable. Not even realizing she was setup for the first act. “Honey goes a long way my dear.” Joann, who I would have called Phoebe, was ingratiating herself to be the innocent and admiring protege. After all, Phoebe thought she had the whole world in her clever hands, well at least to the man who didn’t seem too impressed as the days wore on. She was too young and inexperienced to cradle his inhibitions and desires forever. “All about Eve” comes to my mind in this movie review because it shares basically the same plot but obviously not the same actors. Bette Davis is one hell of a bold dame to be compared to.
I have to be purely honest, there was a main character Valentine who was played by Kristen Stewart and the role she played was flat, limp, dead and extraordinarily painful to watch. This young assistant to Maria was terribly depressed and couldn’t care less if Maria threw herself off the mountain in their last scene. Yes, it was like pulling teeth, out of some kind of person/character that didn’t even like herself nor added to the main story or the main character Maria. Stewart presented herself not to be in the least bit interesting. Even remorseful characters have layers of personality. There are beats in each character’s role the actor and/or actress must define in acting 101. She was miscast for this film and therefore the director paid a heavy price that really affected this film/story with such potential. It was an important role to culminate and add to Maria’s and Valentine’s last scene. They were hiking in the mountains looking for the vaporous fog they called the snake that drifts above the river eventually dividing this mountainous terrain. There was a potential crucial scene where Valentine purposely abandons Maria without the map Valentine was carrying. Then the scene was cut off from the audience; left to wonder if Maria had a hell of a time getting herself back to safety from the middle of nowhere. Where was the panic that should have set in when Maria was left to fend for herself? It’s like the director didn’t really know where Valentine’s character was going and decided to make her disappear and the scene.
The next scene is already the first act of the play in the movie. Juliette Binoche who plays Maria was the only interesting character throughout the whole movie. No matter what Juliette Binoche plays she is timeless, alluring, deep and knows herself in every character she has played on film and I’m sure in the theater. Juliette as Maria is bold enough to give Joann/Phoebe some cues in holding an intense scene long enough for the audience to recognize how immature and childish Joann/Phoebe truly is. The set for the play was magnificent. There were windows to each office, up and down the corridor like a maze in this big company where Maria and Joann/Phoebe become lovers and end up as enemies.
Actress Chloe Grace Moretz plays her part well enough to sound very convincing when she dazzles and charms Maria at their first meeting to talk about the play and their characters. But there isn’t enough significant scenes to establish the real conniving character Joann is to play and affect Maria’s love spell and anger when Joann tells her it’s over. Instead, these very important scenes are played out when Maria and her assistant Valentine are running through the lines of the play; a waste of time. The director of the movie gives himself a role/character to play who is entranced by Joann’s personal life, who is having an affair with a married man. And how the paparazzi will add the scandal of another affair making it’s way to the audience and how that will affect their opinion of the play. The movie is spliced awkwardly and the classical music chosen doesn’t fit with the still photos of the Swiss Alps.
Have a wonderful week and thank you for reading at Natswritings.com