Maria – Film Review
by Frank L

Director – Pablo Larraín
Writer – Steven Knight
Stars – Angelina Jolie, Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher

With Maria, Pablo Larrain has now completed a trilogy of films on iconic women. It follows Jackie (2016) which dealt with Jackie Onassis, and Spencer (2021) which focused on Princess Diana. Maria Callas is different from the other two in that she became an icon solely as a result of her own talent and ambition. She owed nothing to a privileged past or marriage. Her iconic status was the result of her own endeavours.

Larrain and writer Steven Knight have concentrated the action on the last seven days of her life as she lived in her sumptuous apartment in Paris. Angelina Jolie was a couple of years younger than Maria Callas when she died at the age of 53. Jolie’s physical presence is similar to Callas’, with an intense and striking demeanour so she is a good choice for the role.

In the opulent surroundings of her apartment, Callas’s every whim and need are serviced by two faithful servants Ferruccio (Pierfrancesco Favino) and Bruna (Alba Rohrwacher) who diligently comply with her. They display infinite patience.

The structure chosen by Larrain and Knight of her last seven days enables Callas to reflect on her many operatic triumphs which are glimpsed in black and white. Her voice is heard in all its incomparable glory and Jolie’s facial features as she imitates Callas singing is convincing. She is suitably statuesque when she succumbs to the charms of Aristotle Onassis (Haluk Bilginer) to whom she was partnered for almost ten years in the 1960’s. But the early challenges she faced are glimpsed also by her time as a teenager in Nazi-occupied Greece in 1940 and the powerful presence of her overbearing mother.

With the magnificent sounds of her voice and Jolie’s acting excellence, everything should come together, but somehow it does not. Maybe the choice of her last seven days is too restrictive. Her inner contradictions remain a closed book but their presence is indicated by her reliance on a variety of medications.

While Maria for its two-hour length makes for an enjoyable watch, it fails to enlighten the viewer as to what drove Maria Callas to the pinnacle of excellence as an opera singer and to become a household name in the wider world. Fortunately for us, who had not the opportunity of seeing her perform, the magnificence of her singing is preserved for posterity by the many recordings of her voice. Maria as a film adds to the mystique that surrounds Maria Callas more than it enlightens the viewer as to what made her tick. The main point of interest is Jolie’s performance as the enigmatic diva.