Pablo Larraín writes and directs a little-known story about Maria Callas, a renowned opera singer, as she lives out her final days in Paris. Angelina Jolie stars in this complicated role, finding her own voice, literally, to portray this strong yet vulnerable icon in musical history.
Maria, donning bottle-top thick glasses, seems a prisoner of her own home. Her butler, Ferruccio (Pierfancesco Favino), and housemaid Bruna (Alba Rohrwacher) are more than their titles, providing the kindness and friendship to this lonely woman looking at what lies in her very near future. Popping pills and lying about the quantity, Maria listlessly wanders through her home, perhaps attempting to take the edge off the pain she feels. We ask ourselves, is this physical or emotional pain?
We find out the answer to this question as we are transported back in time; a time where Maria ruled the world of opera, adored by all including Aristotle Onassis. The sordid history of the era punctuates the complexities Maria endured as we learn of the unspeakable situations she and her sister endured. The music with its emotion underscore her pain, allowing Maria to share her past without uttering a word.
We witness both Maria’s physical and mental deterioration as she is “interviewed” by Mandrax (Kodi Smit-McPhee). His name is the same as her medication; a telling sign of what’s real and what’s not. These interviews allow us to better know this legend…she’s at the top of her mountain, alone but held up by the two who know her best; Bruna and Ferruccio. Ferruccio who for some reason is always asked to move the piano to different positions throughout the course of the story, provides some levity and together, with drama and a touch of this comedy, we feel the love, the love of a chosen family.
The film itself is stunningly gorgeous thanks to Edward Lachman’s cinematic prowess. Using what feels like grainy film to take us back in time or capture the elegance and beauty of romantic Paris, we are transported in time and place. The cinematography is as sensual as the singing itself, evoking, at times, inexplicable emotion.
Jolie’s performance is a “stoic” one as both she and Larrain said in an interview at the New York Film Festival recently. Her voice, blended with the real Callas’s recordings to varying percentages, is powerful. The skill with which she dives into the role is admirable, however, she doesn’t allow viewers in to see the vulnerability of this character. Callas is portrayed with a tough exterior that just doesn’t crack or break enough to give us an emotional connection with her. Where we do get that connection is with Rohrwacher and Favino’s performances which ground the film. We needed more of that to better understand Callas.
Cinematically, this is a breath-taking film. Most of us don’t know Maria Callas and her story and thanks to Larraín , we are intrigued by this operatic wonder of the mid-1900’s.
3 Stars
Chuck says:
A bracing reminder of the power she brings to the screen, Angelina Jolie delivers a deeply moving performance in Pablo Larrain’s “Maria,” the director’s third biopic focused on a significant female figure of the 20th-Century. Much like “Jackie” and “Spencer,” this feature examines the withering effects of being consistently in the spotlight. Constant petty criticisms eventually take their toll, leaving these strong women’s self-esteem in tatters. Yet, through all they endure, there’s a sense of pride and strength in them that never falters, which is where Jolie excels, providing the character with a sense of defiance she held on to fiercely to the end.
Initially structured like Citizen Kane, the film opens on the afternoon of September 16, 1977, the day Maria Callas was found dead in her Parisian apartment at the age of 53. We are then treated to a montage of scenes from her life, composed mostly of her triumphs on stage as well as public appearances with her partner Aristotle Onassis. These are moments of contentment and, one senses, public acceptance for the Greek soprano.
Yet once this is over, Lorrain pulls back the curtain to expose the singer’s arduous life, one beset by poverty and neglect early on, self-doubt and illness later. To be sure, there was no one more famous or influential in the world of opera, standing like a Colossus among her peers, during the mid-20th century. Yet, it was a status that came at a great personal cost.
As Callas contemplates a comeback, making trips to the Paris Opera House to meet a confidante who assesses her, she takes a steady number of sedatives to ease her nerves, which prompt a series of hallucinations. She sees a reporter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who questions her about her life, for a supposed documentary. This elicits memories that show the abuse inflicted on her by her mother, her rise to fame and her tumultuous relationship with Onassis (Haluk Bilginer), as well as the onset of the health issues that would plague her for the last decade of her life.
The structure of the film allows Jolie to showcase not only her considerable acting talents but her heretofore unheard singing as well. Having mastered the necessary breathing patterns and vocal inflections, she’s completely convincing when she’s required to sing, the illusion made complete by using a combination of her and Callas’ voice. In taking this approach there’s never a sense that lip-synching is at play, the actress selling these moments with a sense of utter conviction.
Kudos must be paid to Pierfrancesco Favino and Alba Rohrwacher, who portray Callas’ faithful servants Ferruccio and Bruna, respectively. The actors’ sincere performances as the diva’s only friends, provides a vicarious avenue for the viewer to care and sympathize with her as they did. These two veterans play wonderfully off one another, while Favino’s scenes with Jolie, in which they lob subtle barbs at one another, are highlights.
Having been introduced to opera at an early age by his mother, this is a passion project for Larrain who employs every tool at his disposal in making this sympathetic portrait. He uses a wide variety of film stock and digital settings to create a variety of different looks, a grainy aesthetic used for the false documentary being shot, one of crisp clarity for the present and so on. That this never proves distracting is credit to the consistency in his approach and the engaging nature of Steven Knight’s screenplay.
Yet, in the end, so much of the success of the film rests on Jolie’s shoulders and she responds with an intensity that’s been absent in her performances for quite some time. Though at first glance her stoic approach may seem simplistic, it’s part of a fully nuanced approach, her seeming haughtiness but a fragile defense in face of unrelenting scrutiny. As a result, the moments in which this façade cracks are the ones where “Maria’s”tragedy is powerfully driven home.
3 1/2 Stars
