You can tell after the first ten minutes of watching Clouds Of Sils Maria that it is not a Hollywood production; one, because Juliette Binoche's character Maria is still alive, and two, because Kristen Stewart is actually allowed to act, and she's pretty great at it by the way.

In yet another year of middling roles for women, Sils Maria is a dream come true. Masterfully directed by Olivier Assayas, the film centers on an aging actress preparing to play…

Such a layered work; a film not only about the process of an actor coming to terms with a difficult role, but also about a woman coming to terms with the fact that she is getting older.

This is just my completely subjective
interpretation of the film's ending.

Spoilers for the remainder of the review:

Val's disappearance - and I believe it could be argued that Val was a wholly symbolic presence in the film, a representation and/or reminder of…

A heady psychosexual drama that’s steeped in dense anxieties and rich European glamour (the film was partially funded by Chanel), Olivier Assayas’s latest finds the French auteur at the very top of his game. Combining the acute professional paranoia of All About Eve with the existential crisis of Persona, Clouds of Sils Maria stars the remarkably accomplished Juliette Binoche as Maria Enders, a fading star who’s agreed to be in a revival of the play that made her famous as…

"The text is like an object. It's going to change perspective depending on where you're standing."

And as the director, Klaus Diesterweg (Lars Eidinger) tells the journalist, the experience of the play, Maloja Snake, will be different for every audience member, each bringing his or her own personal subjective weight to bear on that elusive textual object.

So, I have to ask, would this film have played differently for me were I 20-something, instead of 40-something? Would I, perhaps, be…

67/100

Second viewing, no change, though I moved Kristen Stewart from Supporting Actress to lead and her performance is now officially my favorite of the year (so far) across all four categories. What cinches it is how little acting Valentine does when she's running lines with Maria—her register doesn't alter in the slightest, yet she's still clearly giving a performance rather than just providing cues, which only serves to wind Maria up further. I'd like the film considerably more if…

It's uncanny how Assayas' movies open up for me on second viewing (same thing happened with Irma Vep and Summer Hours), it doesn't happen with any other director. Maybe it's because he tends to present a question then explore its different facets (the old joke of calling him 'Olivier Essayist' is in fact appropriate), so knowing what to look for in advance really helps.

In this case, for instance, the question is what prompts Helena (in the play, and by…