Overview
Maria Callas, the world's greatest opera singer, lives the last days of her life in 1970s Paris, as she confronts her identity and life.
Directed by Pablo Larrain, whose body of work includes the biographical dramas Jackie and Spencer, this film sees him paired with writer Steven Knight in bringing a look at the final days of famed opera singer Maria Calles. Following the seven days leading up to her death as she reflects on her life and career, as she declines into illness and hallucination, envisioning a possibility of being a star once more. Her only company during those final days are her housekeeper Bruna and valet Ferruccio, who are witness to the decline of the legendary diva of the operatic world.
Into the lead role of such an icon steps Angelina Jolie, who infuses the part with a majesty, depth, and grace befitting the icon, whilst never shying away from showing the mental struggle of someone whose fall from grace into a lonely existence away from the lights has broken the core of the character. Jolie lip-syncs along to old recordings of Callas, and even provides her own voice in one latter moment, and becomes Callas on screen so well that you don’t even see the actress underneath. No prosthetics are needed here, Jolie instead demonstrates once more how much of a chameleon she is on screen, making you truely believe in the part being shown, and care for the broken character being represented.
All this sounds bleak and sombre, but rest assured there is some levity also woven into the mix, contrasting well with the darker explorations of Callas’ life through her hallucinatory visions and melancholy episodes. Her exchanges with her housekeeper and valet, and their reactions to her in particular, form most of these lighter moments – albeit with a touch of sadness underneath. A glorious moment as Callas wanders the streets and encounters a vision of a mass of people singing operatically is both beautifully captivating and deeply unsettling at the same time. It is this balance of tones that is handled so deftly by Larrain that makes this film work so well.
Larrain’s prior films have been a very mixed bag. Last year’s El Conde was a strange mess, Jackie was a fascinating study of one of the most important women of the 20th Century, and Spencer was well received, but failed to grab my attention. Maria is closer to Jackie in the power of the storytelling and vision, and is a moving, and powerful film about the ultimate price of fame.