Brava for Angelina Jolie as the opera singer near the end of her life.
Maria Callas is the latest female subject in Pablo Larrain’s filmography after Jackie Kennedy in “Jackie” and Diana, Princess of Wales in “Spencer.” This movie stars Angelina Jolie as famed American-Greek opera singer Maria Callas, and the story (written by Steven Knight in his first screenplay since “Spencer”) focuses on her final years in Paris. The low point in her life to be exact.
It’s not a classic film about a classic singer, but it is a riveting and gorgeous looking one with Jolie representing the singer’s radiance and emotions.
As the film begins, a young journalist named Mandrax (Kodi Smit-McPhee) comes over to interview Maria on her life. Her answers pertain to her burning her dresses and giving up performing on stage, as they were a reflection of her past. And how she performs on stage relies on herself to have a split perspective. She can either tell herself to fight or that she’s doing a crappy job.
There comes a certain point in an opera singer’s life when she struggles to regain her voice, as demonstrated in one scene when she sings like Maria and not La Callas. We see her at restaurants where she usually comes to be adored by fans, although at one scene, she snaps at a guy who was disappointed he didn’t see her at one of her scheduled shows, because she was sick. And she never listens to her own recordings, because they’re, as she says: “perfect, and a song should never be perfect.”
While she struggles with her own reality, she intends to create a final song. Not in writing, but in her thoughts. In fact when Mandrax demands her to sing as part of his documentary, she responds: “I’ll sing when I’m ready to sing.” I like to think at this point in the film, the characters are supposed to know they are in an actual film, and that this is not the time for her to regain her La Callas voice. This is just how I interpret this scene.
And we also see her relationship with the Italian industrialist Giovanni Battista Meneghini (Alessandro Bressanello), who also became her first husband.
As always with a Larrain opus, “Maria” is beautifully photographed. Sometimes, it’s in black and white, sometimes it comes in yellows and browns, and sometimes it uses old fashioned reels. I just love these color palettes. The cinematography is done by Edward Lachman, whose last Larrain collaboration was last year’s “El Conde.” I love how Jolie is placed in the scenes with various horizons, whether she’s lip-syncing the songs or expressing herself as a woman with a voice. And the most passionate black and white moment is when young Maria (Aggelina Papadopoulou) sings “L’amour eat un oiseeau rebel” in front of an SS officer.
Speaking of which, I’m told that Jolie spent months practicing opera in order to prepare her for this role. As I’ve mentioned, she mostly lip-syncs the classic songs, except for a number later in the film. And even if it was just lip-syncing, she has the tone, the beauty, and the complexity of the opera singer.
Besides Smit-McPhee, we also have Pierfrancesco Favino as Maria’s driver and butler Ferrucino and her housemaid Bruna (Alba Rohrwacher), both of whom wish for her well-being, especially when she takes drugs to try to make herself better again. And we also have Valeria Golino as her sister Yakinthi, tells her to “close the door” in regard to her life pathos.
Parts of the film aren’t as radiant as the real life singer’s voice is, as they seem obligatory, but most of the film is in terms of its wise choices. Jolie’s performance, Larrain’s direction, and its love for the opera. He is a filmmaker who loves real life people and how his films should look. And they look great. I wonder what female figure he’ll do next or later on.
Now Playing in Select Theaters
Streaming on Netflix December 11
