World premiere of "Maria" in Venice Angelina Jolie makes her cinema comeback as an opera diva
Angelina Jolie is returning to the big screen - with a biopic plus leading role.
Image: Fremantle
Jolie plays the opera singer Maria Callas, and she even sang in the movie herself.
Image: Fremantle
After "Jackie" and "Spencer", "Maria" marks the end of director Pablo Larraín's trilogy about famous, influential women.
Image: Fremantle
Angelina Jolie is returning to the big screen - with a biopic plus leading role.
Image: Fremantle
Jolie plays the opera singer Maria Callas, and she even sang in the movie herself.
Image: Fremantle
After "Jackie" and "Spencer", "Maria" marks the end of director Pablo Larraín's trilogy about famous, influential women.
Image: Fremantle
Maria Callas is considered the greatest opera singer of all time and caused a lot of drama on stage and in her private life. The biopic "Maria" is dedicated to the last phase of the artist's life and gives Angelina Jolie a new lease of life in the leading role.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- "Maria" tells the story of the last years of the life of world-famous opera diva Maria Callas and takes place in Paris at the end of the 1970s.
- Angelina Jolie plays the leading role after a three-year absence from the big screen and does some of the opera singing herself.
- After "Jackie" and "Spencer", "Maria" marks the end of director Pablo Larraín's trilogy about famous, influential women.
It has been three years since Angelina Jolie last appeared on the big screen in the science fiction film "Eternals".
In general, the popular actress has not taken on too many roles in the past decade and has focused more on her children. What's more, Jolie's long-running divorce dispute with Brad Pitt has been in the headlines on a regular basis. And this year, of all years, they are both celebrating the world premieres of their latest films at the Venice Film Festival.
About the author: Gianluca Izzo
Gianluca Izzo is reporting directly from the Venice Film Festival 2024. In recent years, he has regularly attended the renowned festivals in Cannes, Venice and Berlin and worked in the film industry himself for several years. Today he works for blue Entertainment in program planning.
Brad Pitt is coming to the Lido this weekend with his old pal George Clooney to present the Apple-produced action comedy "Wolfs".
New shine in arthouse film?
While Jolie has mainly appeared in Hollywood blockbusters throughout her career, her portrayal of opera singer Maria Callas in Pablo Larraín's "Maria" takes her into rather unusual arthouse territory. And this could be precisely the step that helps her career to shine again.
Following "Jackie" with Natalie Portman and "Spencer" with Kristen Stewart, Larraín's new film "Maria" marks the conclusion of his trilogy about famous, influential female figures of the 20th century. "Jackie" is about the life of the most famous First Lady after the assassination of her husband John F. Kennedy. And "Spencer" tells the story of Princess Diana's relationship with the royal family in the context of a big Christmas party.
In "Maria", Larraín now turns his attention to the successful and world-famous opera singer Maria Callas and focuses on the last days of her life. Callas receives a visit from a television journalist who wants to make a documentary about her. As she reflects on her past, her glamorous performances at the opera and moments from her relationship with wealthy Greek shipping entrepreneur Aristotle Onassis are shown in flashbacks.
A fitting return to cinema for Jolie
The everyday life Callas spends in her noble house in Paris seems bitter, tragic and melancholy. Just as her whole life was characterized by tragedy and drama. Her most important caregivers are her faithful butler Ferruccio (Pierfrancesco Favino) and her housekeeper Bruna (Alba Rohrwacher). She regularly feeds her two dogs and consumes far too many intoxicating Mandrax tablets.
However, Callas has never lost her pride, her healthy self-confidence and her status as "La Diva", no matter how bitter her everyday life may seem. This fact is beautifully expressed in "Maria". And leading actress Angelina Jolie also plays a major part in this. Callas embodies the elegant and proud diva like no other and Jolie is able to reflect this status perfectly.
Perhaps also because it applies to the actress herself.
In her stage appearances, she really shines and almost seems like a supernatural person, while the moving opera singing can be heard. According to Pablo Larraín, Jolie even sang herself, but her voice was underlaid with Callas' original vocals. This means that both voices can be heard in the opera scenes in the film, although Callas' voice probably predominates for the most part. One thing that can be held against the film is the fact that Angelina Jolie does not really look like the real Maria Callas. But she definitely has a similarly strong charisma, a unique aura and a stunning stage presence.
From a narrative point of view, "Maria" is certainly not an earth-shattering film because it simply offers too little in terms of content and has hardly any surprising moments. On the other hand, it succeeds in portraying the character and unique presence of this exceptional artist very well. And it allows Angelina Jolie to unfold anew and shine.
"Maria" has not yet been released in Swiss cinemas.
