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What happens when someone’s skill which enables them to excel in their passion is taken away? All kinds of talents in sports, music, and art alike have to face this question in the event of an injury or obstacle that leaves them unable to continue in their work. As did the legendary opera singer Maria Callas whose impeccable skill in singing faltered after a career dedicated entirely to bringing otherworldly beauty in her voice, leading to her final years of internal turmoil and unsuccessful attempt to return. The newest film of Chilean director Pablo Larraín’s, ‘Maria’ (2024) takes an introspective look into Callas’ latter part of her life, particularly with how her temperamental tendencies overshadowed her legacy as what Leonard Bernstein called “the Bible of the Opera”.
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Evocative Imagery of Past and Present
Like Larraín’s last intimate depiction of a famous woman’s final days with Princess Diana in ‘Spencer’ (2021), Maria’ has a very distinct look with cinematography from veteran Director of Photography Edward Lachman that exudes bright color and soft tones that give way to a nostalgic look throughout the film, implying a sense of delicate nature with Maria Callas. Other sequences that take place earlier in Callas’ life are in black and white to signify a different time where Maria Callas was the coveted singer of her time. The film’s visuals evoke feelings of emptiness and the lack of close ups imply a distance that Maria Callas feels. Maria Callas lived two sides of her life. One where her singing was her only way in getting through life and one where she was forced to live without her gift. The choices in cinematography for Maria’ are brilliant not because they strive to make the film look pretty, but they reflect the sense of place that the character is in and immerse the audience in such.
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Angelina Jolie brings a thoughtful confidence to Maria Callas
Most superb of all in ‘Maria’ is Angelina Jolie’s portrayal of Maria Callas herself. With a character study such as this, nearly all of the film’s engagement is bent on the lead and Jolie is able to deliver a performance that is perfectly in line with Callas’ character. There is not an attempt to romanticize Callas’ life as in reality, she had a strong personality and could have high tempers. Jolie manages to get this to come across and shape a person who is not always sympathetic in how she treats people, but a tragic figure nevertheless. Most important is the fragile sense of vulnerability within Maria Callas where she only feels sure of herself when singing or being praised in public, all of which is portrayed perfectly by Jolie’s confidence. It is safe to say that Angelina Jolie succeeded in performing this historical figure and is certainly worthy of Oscar nomination.
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Where Talent Will Lead
The majority of us dream of finding success with our talents, whether they are singing, musical instruments, acting, filmmaking, or any kind of passion. In one’s fantasies of excelling in such a success, the struggle is always in what leads up to that achievement and rarely where life will go after that. What makes ‘Maria’ such a compelling approach to this person’s life one is that it focuses exclusively on the final few days of Maria Callas’ life and how the life of a star deteriorates despite all their success. Maria Callas had a prolific life prior to becoming the famous opera singer as she was born in New York and moved to Greece with her family. As depicted in the film, Callas and her sister would sing for Nazis in order to get food and money and even allegedly assisted in hiding British soldiers by singing to the fascist soldiers as a distraction. Then came a career in singing for operas in which she would amaze crowds with her performances.
Larraín depicts these events like shadows, in black and white like they are of the past or with exuberant colors and grand camera movements to depict this period of Callas’ life as idealistic and perfect. However, the film primarily focuses on the more painful side of her life. The latter half where she lived without a husband, children, or a career. Only her butler and housemaid keep her intact. She attends a few sessions with hopes to restore her voice but to much dismay at her loss of voice. As the film goes by, it makes the audience wonder if fame and excelling in a certain talent makes it all worth it if life will end in a place unsatisfactory. Many films have explored this idea, but it is ‘Maria’s constant revisiting of the earlier times in her life that make this effective. Scenes of Callas singing in the 1970s, but playing audio of her performance from the 1940s shows how time passes and that which we wish to stay the same may indeed change for the worse over time.
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‘Maria’ is a film that is worthy of being included in great biopics due to its choices in portraying Maria Callas’ life in its rawest form. Angelina Jolie immerses herself in the role with ease and Pablo Larraín in the director’s chair ensures that this will be a compelling look into one of the most important women of the 20th century. The struggle of someone who has lost their gift for talent in singing has forced them to live the remainder of their life with the knowledge that they will never regain that which made them a sensation. ‘Maria’ is certainly worth a watch as it is released to Netflix on December 11th, 2024
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Director of Photography: Edward Lachman | Editor: Sofia Subercaseaux | Producers: Juan de Dios Larraín, Jonas Dornbach, Lorenzo Miell, Pablo Larraín, Janine Jackowski, Maren Ade, Simone Gattoni | Writer: Steven Knight | Director: Pablo Larraín
By Elijah van der Fluit
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Author
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Elijah van der Fluit is a writer for The Hollywood Insider based in California with aspirations to write and direct films for a professional career. In his spare time, Elijah enjoys watching and discussing movies of all genres as well as reading, hiking, spending time with family, and being one with the world. Elijah believes that art, whatever form it may take, has the ability to inspire and broaden people’s perspectives in a positive way and he hopes to use his work in film and writing to do so.
Elijah van der Fluit is a writer for The Hollywood Insider based in California with aspirations to write and direct films for a professional career. In his spare time, Elijah enjoys watching and discussing movies of all genres as well as reading, hiking, spending time with family, and being one with the world. Elijah believes that art, whatever form it may take, has the ability to inspire and broaden people’s perspectives in a positive way and he hopes to use his work in film and writing to do so.
