Clouds of Sils Maria.

Written and directed by Frenchman Oliver Assayas (Carlos the Jackal 2010, Something in the Air 2011) his latest film has received six Cesar Award nominations including best film, best director, best original screenplay and best cinematography with Kristen Stewart having the distinction of becoming the first American actress to win a Cesar by winning Best Supporting Actress.

The basic story of Clouds of Sils Maria (2014) has been compared to Joseph L Mankiewicz’s 1950 American melodrama All About Eve.  Assayas contemporary version of the story is set mainly in Sils Maria located in a very beautiful part of the Swiss Alps. An ageing actress Maria Enders has been offered a part in a stage play she did twenty years ago by the 'must work for' theatre director Klaus Diesterweg, but this time she is offered the part of the older women, while her original role is to go to an up and coming American actress Jo-Ann Ellis who brings with her a reputation as a fire-brand. Maria, accompanied by her assistant Valentine (Stewart), retreats to Switzerland to practice her lines and get her head around the fact that she is far to old for younger role!

The wonderful Swiss scenery.  

French actress Juliette Binoche, who has now appeared in over 40 feature films gives her usual accomplished performance as the ageing, but still attractive, Marie Enders. Kick-ass (2009) star Chloe Grace Moretz gives the character of Jo-Ann Ellis a Hollywood boost while German star Lars Eldinger (Was bleibt 2012) plays the stage director.

This in fact a very wordy film that come across as a stage play with real scenery, and one must be honest and admit that the scenery is stunning with great shots of the Swiss Alps accompanied by an appropriate classical soundtrack. But even allowing for the accomplished acting from Binoche and Stewart the movie can not hide its one main fault - it does becomes a touch boring with all the talking coupled with its two hour running time! I can't help feeling that Assayas is trying to be a little to clever jumping between the fiction and the fact and back to the fiction played out on the screen. It is for all sakes and purposes a fairly traditional story about coping and maintaining your identity, as you get older. The last thing I would want to do though is put you off seeing this movie, if for no other reason than to see Binoche and Stewart at the pinnacle of their art.

Some woman have natural class.

Camille Claudel 1915.

Originally from Villeneuve in Picardy, Camille Claudel, born 1864, was a French sculptor and graphic artist and the sister of poet and diplomat Paul Claudel. She was at first a student and then became the mistress of fellow sculptor Auguste Rodin for 15 years until she left him in 1895. In 1913 following her father’s death and after living a solitary life shut away in her studio, her metal state was allegedly deteriorating and her family decided to commit her to a metal institution, one at first near Paris before moving to Southern France.

 

Camille Claudel....

....as played by Juliette Binoche.

Written and directed by Bruno Dumont, who you may know from his 2011 movie Hors Satan, a film I can highly recommend if you have not seen it already, Camille Claudel 1915 (2013) is loosely based on the work and letters of Paul Claudel and the medical records of Camille. Our story starts in 1915, hence the title. We find Camille in Montdevergues Asylum near Avignon. Two nuns are forcing her to bath; she is then escorted back to her room. After she gets dressed she makes her way to the kitchen where she is allowed to prepare her own food. We discover the reason for this unusual privilege is she lives in fear of being poisoned, its not quite clear if her paranoia extends to her ex-lover or her family – or both? Being surrounded by mental patients, who appear to be in a far worse state than she is, does not help her, neither does the Psychiatrist in charge of the asylum who refuses to see the evidence in front of him and is totally influenced by Camille’s family who its obvious want her locked away. 

 

The unfortunate residents of Montdevergues did not help Camille's mental condition!

Although the Doctor recommended to her brother that she was ready to leave the asylum a number of times, she was to spend the last 29 years of her life in residence at Montdevergues. Her brother who died in 1955 was to continue to visit her but did not attend his sister’s funeral. She died on October 19^th 1943 aged 79 and was buried in a group vault meaning that her remains can never be reclaimed.

 

Camille's unfeeling brother.

The camera rarely leaves the face of the mesmerising Juliette Binoche who bravely portrays Camille Claudel completely with out makeup, gaunt and thin and dressed throughout the movie in the drab asylum clothing. Because of her superb representation of this character you will be able to empathise with her loneliness, abandoned by both friends and family.  A moving depiction of a talented woman who gets involuntarily locked up in a mental institution. Not to be missed.

La veuve de Saint Pierre (The Widow of Saint Pierre).

Saint Pierre and Miquelon is situated in the North Western Atlantic Ocean near Canada and is the only remnant of the former colonial empire of New France that remains under French control. At the time of the last census, January 2011, it had a population of 6080. The islands are situated at the entrance of Fortune Bay on the southern coast of Newfoundland.

 

The location of the Island.

Saint Pierre.

If you were to visit the museum on Saint-Pierre you would find that it contained a guillotine. The only time that this decapitation device has ever been used in North America was in the late 19th century when it was used to behead Joseph Neel who was convicted of killing a Mr Coupard on the 30th December 1888. The guillotine had to be shipped from Martinique and did not arrive in working order. It seemed almost impossible to get anyone on the Island to carry out this barbaric act until finally a recent immigrant was 'coaxed' into carrying out the task. Neel was subsequently executed on the 24th August 1889. 

 

The Slavic actor Emir Krusturica.

It was this event that was the inspiration for the French movie La veuve de Saint-Pierre (2000) or to give it it's English title The Widow of Saint-Pierre. Taken from the court records of the time the film tells how after stabbing their old sea captain to death two men were convicted of his murder and sentenced to death by guillotine. One of the men Louis Ollivier is killed in a freak accident whilst being taken to await his execution while the other Neel Auguste is placed under the supervision of an army Captain to await the arrival of the guillotine. While he is in his custody he is allowed a certain amount of freedom and the Captains beautiful wife Madame La takes an interest in his rehabilitation eventually giving him back his self-respect by allowing him to carry out various tasks for the local community, who in turn see a changed man. A year after he was sentenced the ship carrying the instrument of his death finally arrives in port but the Captain, his wife and the local inhabitants do not want to see Auguste executed.

 

The Captain and his wife Madame La.

Superbly directed and co-written by Patrice Leconte, who has been responsible for such films as The Hairdressers Husband (1990) The Girl on the Bridge (1999) and L’homme du train (2002). This is a story of the redemption of a brutal killer and how a woman can love two men at the same time, one physically and the other puritanically. This wonderfully paced and detailed period drama stars Juliette Binoche as the redeeming Madame La with the Serbian born actor Emir Kusturica as Neel Auguste, both of whom were deservedly nominated for acting awards. Although Daniel Auteuil, who plays the Captain, spends a lot of time prancing about on a horse he still plays his part in making this movie an exceptionally good watch. It was filmed on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia a rather splendid location emphasised by cinematographer Eduardo Serra. Highly recommended if you enjoy a good French period drama.

Rendez-vous

Nina is a young novice actress who has travelled from her home in Toulouse to the French capital and has managed to secure a small part in a play produced by a local reparatory company.  After the ordeal of flat sharing she decides to find her own apartment. During this transitional period she meets a timid young real estate agent Paulot who immediately fall’s in love with this free-spirited young women and persuades her to share his flat while he is attempting to locate the right property for her. Already sharing Paulot's living space is Quentin an aggressive, emotionally disturbed actor who attempts to seduce Nina and encourage her to join him in his live sex show. Into this emotionally charged triangle steps the elderly theatrical director Scrutzier whose daughter died when she was involved with Quentin in a suicide pact from which he survived.

The film won an Award for Best Director at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival for Andre Techine, known by this blogger for his 2009 movie The Girl on a Train about an aimless girl who lies about being the victim of a hate crime. Rendez-vous (1985) is a dark and powerful story about relationships, love and sexual desire. It stars Juliette Binoche in her first leading role as Nina, French TV star Wadeck Stanczak as Paulot, Lambert Wilson, best known for Princess of Montpensier (2010) and Of Gods and Men (2010) is the ultra intense Quentin, with Amour (2012) co-star Jean-Louis Trintignant as Scrutzier. Techine co wrote the screenplay with another great French auteur Oliver Assayas.

 

The beginning of a intense and dangerous relationships.

An intense relationship drama between three emotionally scarred young people involving love and sexual desire and frustration with classic performances from all actors involved especially the young Binoche who really stands out. A high point in Andre Techine exceptional body of work: recommended. 

Mauvais Sang (The Night is Young).

Leos Carax second feature film Mauvais Sang (1986) is set in Paris in the near future. A mysterious new disease STBO is killing young people who make love without any emotional involvement. A serum has been developed but it’s locked away in an office block depriving those who desperately need it. Seeing the obvious financial gain an American women (Carroll Brooks) blackmails two ageing crooks Marc (Michel Piccoli) and Hans (Hans Meyer), who owe her a considerable sum of money, into stealing the valuable serum. To this end Marc recruits Alex (Carax regular Denis Lavant) a rebellious teenager whose father, Jean worked for Marc before he was killed. Complications ensue when Alex, who already has a girlfriend Lise (Julie Delpy), falls for Marc's young love interest Anna (Juliette Binoche)

The wonderful Denis Lavant.

The Cesar nominated Juliette Binoche.

This avant-garde film noir gave the very young looking Binoche her second Cesar nomination with Denis Lavant playing his part with a style which brings to mind a young prowling animal. The film is made up with what’s best described as 'strange interludes' and has an obvious Fassbinder influence, mainly I would suggest from his gangster period plus his trademark use of mirrors. The camerawork may be different but coupled with some superb use of colour and incidental music gives it an individualist feel for what Carax has become best known. 

Les Amants du Pont-Neuf.

The Juliette Binoche Poster.

Leos Carax latest film Holy Motors (2012) has been released to much critical acclaim, it tells the story of a shadowy character (Denis Lavant) who journeys from one life to the next. Carax is a French film director who is noted for poetic style and his tortured depiction of love. One of his most notable films is Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991), which I believe translates as Lovers on the New Bridge.

This modern French fairy tale is the story of a love affair that develops between two rather sad young vagrants living on the Pont-Neuf Bridge in Paris; despite its name it is the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine. Alex is a fire breathing street performer who is addicted to alcohol and sedatives who we first encounter lying in a main road with a broken leg after having it run over by a motorist, he is then ‘swept up’ by a police patrol who are clearing the Paris streets of vagrants late one evening. When he is finally released with his leg in a cast he returns to the bridge to find a new resident has moved in. Michele is a painter who it transpires has been driven to a life of hardship on the streets by a failed relationship and a disease that is slowly destroying her eye sight and therefore preventing her from working on her painting’s. Sharing the bridge is a grumpy old vagrant called Hans who for reasons of his own treats Alex like a son but takes an instant dislike to Michele.

Its not easy for Michele and Alex.

Denis Lavant has played the lead role in all but one of Carax’s films and plays the physically demanding role of Alex with startling conviction and immense skill. Juliette Binoche deservedly won a European film award and secured her third Cesar nomination for her persuasive portrayal of Michele. Incidentally it was Binoche’s own artwork that used in the movie and she also designed the French poster for the film.

While Michele's eyesight gets worse ......

...... Alex earns what he can at street theatre.

Carax makes excellent use of the sights and sounds of Paris during the 1989 French Bicentennial Celebrations and regular Director of Photography Jean-Yves Escoffier also works his magic on Paris making the city as striking and beautiful as you have ever seen it on screen. The film illustrates quite graphically the ups and downs of love on the streets between two very sad and troubled people in a passionate and gripping fashion. This rather unconventional love story depicts the miseries of the deprived and socially outcast to great effect. This movie certainly gives you an appetite for more of the French directors work.

Pont-Neuf Bridge Paris.