Lauded American born Greek opera singer Maria Callas’ (2nd December 1923 – 16th September 1977) final days are captured in Maria.
By then her famed soprano voice has gone and she hasn’t performed in years.
As played by Angelina Jolie, she is holed up in her luxury Paris apartment.
With her are her two loyal staff, Ferruccio (Pierfrancesco Favino) and Bruna (Alba Rohrwacher) and two small dogs.
She is popping pills as if they are lollies and having frequent hallucinations.
She pines for the love of her life, shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis (Haluk Bilginer)
A TV crew, led by interviewer Mandrax (Kodi Smit-McPhee), arrives to film a documentary on her life.
And she is prevailed upon to make one final attempt at singing like she used to, which proves futile.
In her mind, she remains the diva for which she was noted as being.
She can be aloof, dismissive and indignant, but still covets adoration.
This is very much an interpretation of Callas’ end, by writer Steven Knight and director Pablo Larrain (who also collaborated on Spencer).
Flitting between black and white and colour, and interspersed with actual footage of Callas performing, it hardly paints a pretty picture.
The film reveals how she met and was pursued by Onassis while she was still married.
It details how he didn’t want her to sing.
It harks back to her difficult, impoverished childhood with her sister and how she was estranged from her mother.
It is difficult to discern how much of what is presented is fact and how much is fiction, but one thing in clear. Hers was hardly a trouble-free life.
While watching Maria, I couldn’t help but think of Larrain’s earlier biopic Jackie (on First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy).
There are similarities in style – elements of fantasy and whimsy.
Angelina Jolie inhabits the soul of Callas with style and sings well, although I wasn’t always sold on the lip syncing.
I appreciated the representation by Pierfrancesco Favino of manservant Ferruccio, as he tried everything possible to try to help Callas in spite of herself.
Having said that, it quickly became clear that the end was near and that she would continue to do what she wanted to do.
Photo by Pablo Larrain
Ultimately, there is a turbulence and sadness about Maria, the film in its representation of a feted songstress who lived for the stage.
As shown here, she soared and then stumbled.
Rated M, Maria scores a 7 out of 10.
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