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Maria Callas: Book me a table in a café where the waiters know who I am
Tale
Maria Callas, the world’s greatest opera singer, lives the final days of her life in 1970s Paris as she confronts her identity and her life. Angelina Jolie and director Pablo Larraín discuss how they became involved in the heartbreaking true story of world-renowned opera singer Maria Callas. The third and final film in Pablo Larraín’s so-called “Lady with High Heels” trilogy of female-led biographies, following Jackie (2016) and Spencer (2021).
I’m in the mood for admiration
Referenced in Close-up: Why Do We Need a Venice Film Festival? (2024). Otello Act 4: ‘Ave Maria’ (Desdemona) Performed by Maria Callas, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire Conductor: Nicola Rescigno Written by Giuseppe Verdi, Arrigo Boito A Warner Classics Release, (p) 1964 Parlophone Records2Remas4C Parlophone Records Limited Warner Music Group Germany Holding GmbH, Warner Music Group Company.
I have to say that director Pablo Larrain’s involvement in the iconic trilogy of 20th-century women was disappointing
It starts with the casting, as Angelina Jolie may herself be too iconic to portray the top diva Maria Callas, the least remembered of the trio, the other two being “Jackie” (2016) and Diana in “Spencer” (2021). Jolie conveys the necessary assets to bring out the regal image of the world’s greatest opera singer, but physically she seems too bony to convincingly emulate the robust figure struck by Callas. Written by Steven Knight, the sordid, long-running film covers the final week of Callas’s life in Paris in 1977, a fictional narrative with inevitable flashbacks that cumulatively look like a ghost story.
Her convent existence is soured only by two devoted servants, played touchingly by Pierfrancesco Favina and Alba Rohrwacher
All the production elements, like the polished cinematography and set details, are impressively handled, but Larrain’s creative choices are more controversial, like the hallucinogenic images of choirs singing back to her in public spaces. It features an ambiguous interviewer (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who has the same name as her prescription drug and forces her to confront her legacy. Some flashbacks show more intriguing elements of her story, like her rather tumultuous relationship with Aristotle Onassis, her traumatizing encounters with the Nazis as a child, and a fascinating conversation with JFK (played by Caspar Phillipson in the same, somewhat insignificant role in “Jackie”).
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Yet Jolie’s star power is a testament to her unique talent for expressing arrogance and vulnerability almost simultaneously. “One Hundred Years of Solitude” is one of the biggest TV and streaming premieres this month.