Completely Knocked Over By The Fabulous "Clouds of Sils Maria"!

I got tired of doing plumbing so decided to go see a movie. The movie I wanted to see at the Tower was unavailable ("Salt of the Earth"), so ended up seeing "Clouds of Sils Maria". It is advertised as a character study of three actresses, one of whom is grappling with age, but I interpret it quite differently, as history's most-subtle-ever horror film. If you like acting, you'll like this! Kudos to the fabulous Kristen Stewart!

I've been checking out some reviews of the film "Clouds of Sils Maria" and finding them close to useless. Most reviews state the movie ends on an ambiguous note. To me, the opposite is true. I glimpsed something exceedingly dark; something horrible, but masked so well that many don't see it at all. The film is a unique specimen in the history of cinema - a subtle horror movie.

For example, this reviewer, Sandra Hall:

Sils Maria is a valley in the Swiss Alps where Nietzsche was inspired to come up with his theory about the cyclical nature of time.

Much is made of this in the publicity for French director Olivier Assayas' Clouds of Sils Maria – which sounds ominous, I know. Fortunately, however, these musings don't find their way into the film, which is left to speak for itself, helped along by its stars, Kristen Stewart and Juliette Binoche.

That's just great! The director tells the reviewers what the movie is all about, and provides them with all that information in their media packets, and the reviewers still ignore everything he just told them!!!


The 19th Century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche spent many summers at Sils Maria. Certain concepts he coined have become familiar over the years. His 'Übermensch' became a foundational concept in the rise of Naziism, for example. But he had another concept too, one less familiar, called 'eternal recurrence'. This movie explores that concept (without actually saying so, of course - the mask is firmly in place), and places it in its true home (the theater).

Most interesting movie of the decade, so far. Stars Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart, and Chloe Grace Moretz. Now showing at the Tower Theater in Sacramento!



[From May 9th] Went back the Tower Theater to watch "Clouds of Sils Maria" a second time. Gleaned some more details, but the shock I felt the first time wasn't quite so great the second time around. Guess I'm getting accustomed to the dark vision of Friedrich Nietzsche: “The higher we soar the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly.”