MOVIES AT LA PLAZA: “MARIA"—The opera was her world

Movie Review by Sergio Martínez

Director Pablo Larraín, after having given us the biopics of two women of considerable influence in the social and political world, Spencer (about Princess Diana) and Jackie (about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis), puts his focus this time on the most fabulous diva of the 20th century: Maria Callas.  In the title role, Angelina Jolie effectively portrays the character in her glory and in the security of being the most outstanding female star of world opera for two decades, as well as in her vulnerability in her Paris apartment when she must face the reality that her best time has passed. Only her two faithful employees, Ferruccio (Pierfrancesco Favino) and Bruna (Alba Rorhwacher), accompanied her during those days.

Angelina Jolie delivers a solid
performance as Maria Callas

The structure of the film allows us to see in retrospect the life of the soprano from the moment she is found dead on the floor of her apartment, passing through her moments of glory in the great centres of world opera. Incidentally, her sentimental life is also present, in particular, the beginning of her relationship with Aristotle Onassis (Haluk Bilginer), with whom she has a striking dialogue when he practically follows her during a party: “You have to see when an excess of self-confidence is bordering on madness,” she tells him.

The director makes good use of fantastic or hallucinatory elements, such as a striking scene on the esplanade of Trocadero in Paris, with the Eiffel Tower in the background when passers-by suddenly become the chorus of one of the operas, a similar resource is used for a scene that is illustrated with the music of Madama Butterfly. These images are very well achieved and have the function of portraying the mood of the diva in a non-explicit way. Also, the use of documentary images of the actual artist is illustrative without being intrusive.

Maria is undoubtedly a film that we recommend not only for those who like opera and who was one of its most outstanding figures, but also as a successful combination of music and image that captures very spectacular scenarios such as those of the great theatres, but also those of the most intimate atmosphere of the great stars in social gatherings (in one she meets President Kennedy) and especially, the atmosphere of loneliness of the artist in her final years. It is certainly not an exhaustive biography or a version that gives us a didactic vision of the soprano, but it does transmit all the passion she felt for what was her world: opera.

Length: 123 min.