The Oliver Assayas-directed movie Clouds of Sils Maria has attracted considerable acclaim for the depth and intelligence of its script and impressive performances from promising young actresses Kristen Stewart and Chloe Grace Moretz. However, legendary French actress Juliette Binoche remains very much the movie’s star – in more ways than one.
For a start, it was Binoche who originally pitched the idea of the movie to Assayas. He reacted positively and got to work with penning the script. That script does have echoes of Binoche’s own public life; it follows a globally famous actress, Maria Enders, who is asked to perform in a play called Maloja Snake, which had made her a star when she acted in it two decades earlier. This play was written by Enders’ mentor William Melchior. Binoche has a similar relationship with Assayas; he co-wrote the script of the erotic drama Rendez-vous, in which Binoche starred in 1985.
In Clouds of Sils Maria, Enders grows disturbed by the young actress, played by Moretz, who will take the role in this revived play that Enders had took twenty years earlier. Still, despite the praise that Moretz has received for this movie, Binoche holds her own well, and we are sure that she hasn’t been similarly unsettled by her young co-star! You can read more intriguing facts about the movie, which is now available through iTunes, in the next issue of AppleMagazine.