The 2014 Cannes Film Festival may be drawing to a close, but it’s still not over for director Oliver Assayas (Something In The Air, Summer Hours). The French filmmaker’s latest drama, Clouds Of Sils Maria is scheduled to screen in competition, begging the question: will it snag the festival’s prized award, the Palme d’Or?  Judging by the sneak peeks offered so far with posters, images, clips and today the first full-length trailer, we’d say it’s one to watch.
With Juliette Binoche having put in a brief-but-memorable performance in box office behemoth, Godzilla, this past weekend, it’s good to see her sinking her teeth into a meatier role. As a 40+ actress, she’s asked to take a role in a reboot of the very play which catapulted her to stardom decades before. Â Relocating to the Alps for rehearsals with her assistant, Valentine (Kristen Stewart), she meets the actress now slated to play her earlier role, Jo-Ann Ellis (Chloe Grace Moretz.)
Binoche looks to be putting in another stonking performance as Maria Enders, dealing with the worries of being an older actress in an industry obsessed with youth – a neat twist there, considering she shares top billing with Twilight whimperer Stewart and pint-sized bad-ass Moretz. Stewart is proving again that her foray into the teen vamp franchise was a mere blip on her resume. Her scenes glimpsed at here show she DOES possess a desirable side as the funny assistant. As for the villanous Moretz, she looks like she’s having an absolute hoot as the shallow ego-centric ingenue, delivering a couple of eye-rolling scenes here that’re a showcase for her impressive acting clout.
We’re pretty darned excited for this film to land. How often are female-centric dramas led by such strong leading casts? And with a fresh new take on the “I’m getting too old for this shit” story, it’s got all the hallmarks of a potential Oscar-nominee. We’ll keep you posted when the critics unleash their opinions on the flick. For now, sit back, and watch the first trailer and a couple of clips to tide you over.
Clouds Of Sils Maria will screen in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, with IFC Films set to release it in the U.S. later this year.
At the peak of her international career, Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) is asked to perform in a revival of the play that made her famous twenty years ago. But back then she played the role of Sigrid, an alluring young girl who disarms and eventually drives her boss Helena to suicide. Now she is being asked to step into the other role, that of the older Helena.
She departs with her assistant (Kristen Stewart) to rehearse in Sils Maria; a remote region of the Alps. A young Hollywood starlet with a penchant for scandal (Chloë Grace Moretz) is to take on the role of Sigrid, and Maria finds herself on the other side of the mirror, face to face with an ambiguously charming woman who is, in essence, an unsettling reflection of herself.
