PalCinema Review: Maria

It's Angelina Jolie's show!

December 6, 2024

FILM: MARIA

DIRECTED BY: PABLO LARRAIN

STARRING: ANGELINA JOLIE, PIERFRANCESCO FAVINO, ALBA ROHRWACHER

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

By Dan Pal

In the new film Maria about famed opera singer Maria Callas, Angelina Jolie gives an astonishing performance that makes us aware of what a great actress she really is. It’s been twenty-five years since she won her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Girl, Interrupted. She’s only been nominated one other time, for 2008’s Changeling, a largely forgotten Clint Eastwood directed film. During this time, she’s directed films and starred in not quite Oscar-worthy films such as Maleficent and The Tourist. Then there was the marriage and divorce from Brad Pitt. I mention all of this because Maria finally lets us see that she has great talent and skill as an actress and should be front and center in more quality projects.

Maria doesn’t have any big dramatic swings so it’s not quite a film for those looking for some kind of classical Hollywood drama. The sole focus is on Callas and the last seven days of her life. The singer is reflecting back on some of the key moments in her career while realizing that she has lost the power of her voice. She’s taking numerous pills and lives in a towering apartment in Paris where she is taken care of by her servants Ferruccio (Pierfrancesco Favino) and Bruna (Alba Rohrwacher.) They know exactly what is going on with her as she playacts and lets her mind wander back into her past. There are also a series of black and white flashbacks in which she interacts with Aristotle Onassis and President Kennedy.

The film was shot in Europe and the settings are incredibly opulent and extravagant. Every piece of furniture and article of clothing is impeccably chosen. Each scene of the film is rich in music, design, culture, and the arts. Callas’s recordings can be heard during much of it, serving as its primary score.

Since the story itself is pretty thin, all attention is on Jolie. From the opening scene in which she appears to be lip syncing to the real Maria Callas, close-ups reveal layers of sadness and pain while she effectively utilizes precise facial movements to reflect the commanding power of Callas’s expressive performances. Every ounce of Jolie’s work here is carefully constructed. Her accent and speech patterns are slow and deliberate exhibiting calmness and oozing with elegance. We are also drawn into her absolute beauty. It is hard to look away from all of the subtle features on that face. The only detail that is less clear is how much she actually sings throughout the film. When Callas is at her peak, the voice comes from her recordings. As the singer is experiencing difficulties hitting notes, I believe we are hearing the imperfect vocals of Jolie, which is fitting. It’s never though entirely obvious how much vocal Jolie is actually contributing to the performance. While she has said that she spent about seven months preparing for the role, there is apparently a blending of her voice with that of Callas’s.

Still, she’s perfect in every other way. One of the great lines she delivers is during a flashback when Callas sits outside of a café being a bit harassed by people on the street. When a server suggests she come inside, she responds, “I come to restaurants to be adored.” It is this quality that Jolie exhibits throughout the film which also makes her the perfect choice for this role. It’s hard not to adore her. How much of Callas’s own perspective on fame and attention does Jolie actually resonate with is not known but it’s clear that she is able to inhabit the persona of someone who was clearly consumed by her need to be adored and admired for the truly great gift she had. While Jolie is not a singer herself, her own gifts as an actress are to be highly commended based on what she does with this part.

Maria opens today in limited release. It will also be available to stream on Netflix next week.

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