That Mia Wasikowska is everywhere. The elfin darling of the indie elite (who has been known to slum it for the odd blockbuster, like breakthrough “Alice in Wonderland“), she has sustained the critical momentum of the pajama-clad daughter in “The Kids Are All Right” to dominate the Sundance acting conversation with “Stoker.” This summer, according to Ion Cinema, she will be trekking into “Sound of Music” country to film an Alpine meditation with Euro-stalwart Juliette Binoche.
“Sils Maria” reteams the “Summer Hours” duo of Binoche and director Olivier Assayas, though she’s been absent from his recent films like “Carlos” and “Something In The Air.” Set in the eponymous Swiss town, a floral hangout for 19th and 20th century intellectuals (Nietzsche’s old pad is now a tourist attraction), the picture will explore middle-age and the perception of one’s own success. Binoche, now something of a veteran herself, plays a famous actress haunted by roles of the past, with Wasikowska as her assistant.
Assayas told us of the project last year, “I’ve written it for Juliette Binoche, it’s based on her. A Juliette
Binoche movie about Juliette Binoche with Juliette Binoche. It will be in English and part of the
cast will be American.” And right he was. The film’s got funding lined up, so this feels like a definite possibility for Cannes 2014. Ms. Wasikowska, in the meantime, has at least five films on the way, from Richard Ayoade’s sophomore film, “The Double,” to Jim Jarmusch‘s “Only Lovers Left Alive,” we’ll be seeing her around a fair bit this summer. Binoche, meanwhile, will move on to the project once she wraps a rare blockbuster excursion, on Gareth Edwards‘ “Godzilla.”