Angelina Jolie offers a regal performance in Pablo Larraín’s gorgeously filmed and profoundly sad film about Maria Callas.
Completing his trilogy of films with a female personality at the centre, Pablo Larraín delivers a wonderful poignant and heart wrenching film focusing on the final months of Maria Callas’s life in Paris.
Written by Steven Knight, the film mainly takes place in the famed opera singer’s apartment and highlights her increasing loneliness and dependance on the medication Mandrax which causes her to have hallucinations. This includes conversations with a journalist and appearance of a television crew, which then leads her reminiscing about her relationship with Aristotle Onassis. The main time that she leaves the apartment is to private sessions with conductor Jeffrey Tate to try and make her singing voice stronger.
Through his script, Steven Knight has created a profound and intimate psychological look at Maria Callas’s final months. In every pitch perfect scene, the audience gets a strong sense of the singer’s inner strength in the way she both adores and loathes the attention that she receives from her fans but equally her vulnerability shown through her close relationship with her butler Ferruccio and housemaid Bruna.
It is a quiet and understated film that gently whisks the audience into Maria’s mind, offering a beautiful intimate film that captures the attention from start to finish. I loved the way it switches from colour for the present scenes and a classy black and white for Maria’s memories – there is a real sense of theatricality in every frame and the intimacy in the way in which each scene has been filmed ensures that you feel every emotion that is being portrayed to heartbreaking effect.
Perhaps this approach means that there is a lack of drama (which given that it is about Maria Callas seems surprising) that can make Larraín’s film feel a little bit flat, yet despite this there are moments of confrontation that give the film extra depth and showcase Maria’s spirit such as her sitting opposite John F Kennedy, resenting the implications of him making overtures to her while their spouses are seeing each other.
Paris has also never looked better, thanks to Edward Lachman’s gorgeous cinematography that ensures the city looks as stylish as possible, while Massimo Cantini Parrini’s extensive and lavish costume design is also to be admired. The music that is performed rings through perfectly.
At the centre of it all, Angelina Jolie’s performance as Maria is beautifully multi-layered – raw, strong, vulnerable. lonely and determined. Throughout every moment, she offers a regal approach to the famous singer that captivates from start to finish. The moments that which stand out the most are the ones in which she desperately tries to regain her voice: the purchase of voice recorder to compare her voice to previous recordings to now is heartbreaking.
Surrounding her is an excellent supporting cast, in particular Pierfrancesco Favino as butler Ferruccio and Alba Rohrwacher as housemaid Bruna are wonderful to watch in their care to their performances which showcase the loyalty both characters have towards their unpredictable employer.
Overall, Maria is a wonderful and moving film that takes you inside beautifully the mind of Maria Callas. It is classy and elegant from start to finish.
By Emma Clarendon
Maria is out in cinemas now.
Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️