Lining up movies with one auteur after another — Drake Doremus, Kelly Reichardt, Woody Allen, Ang Lee — Kristen Stewart has become the particular muse of Olivier Assayas. The filmmaker directed her to a celebrated, César award winning performance in “The Clouds Of Sils Maria,” and has immediately reteamed with the actress for “Personal Shopper.” And the film, which finds Stewart playing a twin who seeks to communicate with her deceased sibling, looks to be one that sees the actress making the most of her latest collaboration with Assayas.
“Like Olivier, Kristen challenges herself. I’ve seen on ‘Personal Shopper’ how Olivier has had to adapt himself because of what she is doing with her character. He told me: ‘She’s challenging the scenes! I thought she was going to do this, but she’s doing that.’ With Kristen there is nothing unimportant. Everything is made significant by what she does,” producer Charles Gillbert told The Guardian.
Meanwhile, the director explains how this film is a companion of sorts to ‘Sils Maria,’ and Stewart’s role.
“I wrote this movie really fast and it has ended up as a sort of continuation of our first film together. ‘Clouds’ opened doors for me. Things I couldn’t touch before I was able to do: mixing realistic and genre elements, dealing with the invisible,” Assayas explained. “A personal shopper is the most alienated job you can find. You’re dealing in surfaces, but it’s not even for yourself. Maureen is doing a job she doesn’t like, and the film is about her trying to come to terms with her own identity. She’s darker than Val. And the film is darker. ‘Clouds’ can be seen as comedy. This can’t.”
The verdict will be in when “Personal Shopper” screens on Monday. Until the rest of us get to see it, check out two new clips above.
Check out the rest of our coverage from the 2016 Cannes Film Festival by clicking here.