Puccini’s ‘Tosca’ is one of Maria Callas’ best roles. The singer captivated the world with her rich tones and theatricality- something that was on display during Callas’ staged life which is documented in this biopic ‘Maria’. We actually observe operatic enunciations from a brain that formed novel characters, stories, and movements. Callas yearned for her life and performances to come close to her fantasies. The audience gets a condensed yet beautiful tale about the opera diva through blinks of a camera. This wonderful narrative about performers allows one to dive into the enigma of the person Callas was on and off stage.
The movie was directed by Pablo Larrain who also co-wrote it along with Steven Knight. The trio got everything right: great direction, intriguing storyline, and stunning scenery. In terms of timing, it’s apparent that they got extremely close in showcasing Callas’ confrontation with Delon. The production was timed perfectly- both opulently and mind-numbingly beautiful- and the entire Last Picasso still seems colourful in the audience’s memories. The core idea was exceptional and the entire narrative created the perfect atmosphere- a tale of complete chaos surrounding Callas and making every performance resonate. Expectations are fulfilled thanks to flawless execution in the production and direction. Callas captivates just as much on screen as she would in real life.
In the Chicago International Film Festival, which held its premiere recently, Maria had its fair share of audiences while a major part of their attention went to the singer’s personal health rather than the singer. The movie portrays Maria Callas as a shell of her former self, whose uncompromising voice has been shattered by various factors; as her doctor observes, one bone does not make a body. Callas is fiercely struggling with her identity and experiencing overpowering trauma after losing a loved one. Such episodes indeed form a primary pushover component for the actress, and so it’s no surprise that Angelina Jolie plays out those moments deep within her core and projects them so skillfully.
Maria is set in 1977. We are given callous details about one of the final moments in the singer’s career, how she ends up dead in her apartment: nearly twenty-four hours later, the events that led up to this fatal incident can be seen. These incidents are featured throughout the production, serving as flashbacks whenever Callas describes notable episodes in her life.
To achieve that, sepia tones and black-and-white photographs, which are rather washed away, are incorporated to evoke a feeling that focuses on both the past and the present. From these cues, we are in agreement that Callas’ past was substantially more colorful and sharper, while in real time most things or most aspects including her voice, seem or feel like they are, in some sense, worn out or somehow washed out.
More or less like Spencer, the main character is not alone but has two supporters who share the experience with her. Spencer had Princess Diana’s teenage actors William and Harry who she adored. Maria has it as Feruccio (Pierfrancesco Favino), a butler and chauffeur to Callas himself and also Bruna (Alba Rohrwacher), Callas’ housekeeper. These three characters create a powerful emotional combination and an often sad middle aged male perspective who through comic relief bring a lot of humor to the screen and prove that most icons fall apart starting with the glamour.
Near the end of the film, in fact, Feruccio and Bruna are Callas’ real family whom she leans on during her fits of mania or during silly moments/remarks. One recurrent segment which is rather humorous has the strange singer telling Feruccio where to place her favorite piano in a particular section of the room – over and over. These kinds of things make turning points in tonal shifts, raising the film from being just a dramatic bathos tragedy.
We follow Callas, who is practicing to sing at a studio, at times, in the presence of her vocal coach, Stephen Ashfield. She is, however, far from waiting patiently as she struggles to find the strength and tone that she had mastered in the past and which even now lies buried deep within. Years may have gone by since she performed in public, but Callas is still only 53. In this film, at least in an abstract way, she has someone to speak with, which pacifies the tension inside her as we follow throughout the movie, Callas’ depression and frustration as the central theme.
Here, we have a TV journalist, Kodi Smit-McPhee with The Power of the Dog, whom Jolie displays as Mandrax, the suppressant drug that Callas abused in the past and which damaged her other health. As a writer, the Mandrax, Feruccio and Bruna scenes filled with the best lines to deploy Jolie. Callas goes, “I’m unwell because I’m hungry,” and adds in a condescending manner, “I go to restaurants as a matter of pride.” Bravo.
Regarding the filmmaker and how well he has shown Callas in action when performing on stage, hearing the echo in the back of one’s mind Michal’s voice, who is at this moment a star, we are reminded that she sang in the opera houses packed with audiences ready to listen and watch her on stage performing the compositions of great 19th-century writers, Verdi or Puccini, the ones who’ve made her career. Hitting the jackpot straight reveals scant breathtaking incarnations of nature. When feeling the creepy pleasure of witnessing Jolie’s mouth moving to Callas’ songs while she put her body into it and calling it a “thing” is still a bit disconcerting.
You will see more of the central characters as Callas discusses her past and her place in the situation with the “TV journalist”. Obviously, there is that unconditional bond that was once enjoyed by her and Aristotle Onassis (which is bizarrely similar to Larrain’s Jackie desire). Though quite different in age, Haluk Bilginer and Chantal Ughi convincingly portray the star-crossed lovers. There is some enjoyment in seeing Callas and a Machiavellian JFK (Caspar Phillipson) who, of course, later has Ms. Onassis in his hands. It offers yet another glimpse of Callas as a strong woman, fully her own. This is a woman who goes to the ends of the earth for her Independence and her modern-day application explains why events in real time are extremely disturbing because Callas is losing control over her life. And over her destiny.
This is precisely the aspect which sets Maria apart from Jackie and Spencer. At the end of those stories, the protagonists have a place to go and a point of destination, where they see hope for something to be rebuilt. Such is not the situation here which one can say is a good ending for a trilogy. And while that does not spoil the effectiveness of the storytelling exhibited in Maria, it does, as Celine in one of the interviews said, somewhat lessen the than it hopefully should be the feeling of the film-optimism in destruction. So no, that mystery is never solved in that film either, nor was it solved in the previous two films.
Other than that, it’d be difficult to achieve a better told story than what filmmaker Pablo Larraín, or a more captivating performance than Angelina Jolie gives. Maria strikes harshly. Jolie’s performance will resonate within you even after you step out of the theater. The result is a resounding success and a completely encompassing and oppressive nightmare that manages to strike out all the right high notes.
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