[yasr_overall_rating]
A veteran actress comes face-to-face with an uncomfortable reflection of herself when she agrees to take part in a revival of the play that launched her career 20 years earlier.
This is the first film I have seen by Olivier Assayas, so I did not have any looming expectations walking in. Sometimes it is better that way, it can be more stimulating and stir within you new appreciations. The delicate situating of subtlety in film I have always admired. It takes a graceful hand to craft subtlety in such a way that it is not so severely overwrought that it loses its power. Assayas has created a film where the delicacy and power of subtlety is balanced by some melodramatics that sets the stage for a film full of dichotomy that carries us through a film where “acting” blurs into “reality” and in a tongue-in-cheek way touches on Reality.
Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) is a middle-aged actress at the peak of her career and going through typical life transitions. She’s trying to figure out her place within the acting world while facing the imminence of a new generation of actors and directors making their way through the industry. She is determined to stay true to herself, to her art and chooses to balance her life carefully when it comes to media appearances and taking on particular acting roles, often criticizing those who choose to act in over glamorized films made for the masses. Valentine (Kristen Stewart), Maria’s young assistant, friend and confidante ultimately encourages Maria to confront herself, her fears and insecurities, to be daring by taking on a role that Maria is hesitant and fearful to portray in the play Maloja Snake.
The role in question is that of Helena, a middle-aged businesswoman that seduces/seduced by Sigrid, a young and cunning intern/assistant. Maria acted the part of Sigrid 20 years ago, a role that boosted the start of her career. Sigrid is to be played by volatile media frenzy actress JoAnn Ellis (Chloë Grace Moretz). Maria cannot see herself as Helena, what she perceives as a washed-out woman who simply fades away, disappears. She is Sigrid, she cannot be anyone else. Her memories of the play haunt her; blur her vision.
The read-throughs of the play’s scenes with Valentine create a caustic combination where the lines of reality overlap with visceral emotion. The relationship between Maria and Valentine is strained, confused. A struggle between Sigrid’s, one who cannot find the will to let go and the other who is accusingly placed into the role. This was the moment I feared that the film would drown in cliché and Maria and Valentine’s relationship would falter into sexual intimacies. Thankfully, it does not. Disturbed by Maria’s passive aggressive attacks on her, Valentine wishing and willing Maria to succeed, suddenly disappears, which allows Maria to accept and fulfill her role as Helena.
It must be noted, that the title of the play ‘Maloja Snake,’ is a term for an interesting meteorological occurrence that produces a snake-like composition of clouds that creep through the winding valley of Sils Maria. It is during this occurrence that Valentine disappears and Maria adapts to and accepts her role both within the play and her own life. The symbol of the snake in many cultures represents good and evil, the beginning and the end, and regeneration. It is an apt symbol for overarching themes of the film.
The performances of Juilette Binoche and Kirsten Stewart are astounding and seemingly effortless. Binoche is perfection and Stewart really surprised me. It’s not that I thought poorly of her skills before, I just simply never thought of them at all. They slipped into their roles seamlessly, and every once in a while you felt as if they weren’t acting, that this is them and I’m sure that’s part of the point, another added layer to the film.
Honestly, I can say I loved this film. Olivier Assayas has created a beautifully nuanced movie. It has a quality to it that can be likened to Fassbinder’s “The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant” but contains within it, a certain grace that doesn’t carry to complete melodramatic cliché. It delves into the age old dichotomies that concern us all, such as old vs. young and life vs. death while playfully commenting on the art of acting and the industry in general.
Now playing at select theaters including the Angelika Film Center in Plano
