“Maria” imagines Maria Callas reflecting on her life in her last months

Admirers of exquisite voices include the iconic opera star Maria Callas among those who transport listeners to heavenly realms. Her illustrious performances are well known. The woman, however, remains more elusive. Intrigued, Chilean director Pablo Larraín embraces the challenge of probing the complex mystery of Maria Callas in her late, more painful times in the film simply titled "Maria."

Larraín again delves into the very personal, albeit understandable, difficulties of legends, dramatizing the private lives of famous women in "Jackie" (2016) and "Spencer" (2021). In "Maria," he finds Callas wondering if she can reignite her career in her later days. Wandering around Paris, confronting a reporter’s questions, falling in love with Aristotle Onassis, and interacting most frequently with her devoted housemaid Bruna and her long-time butler Ferruccio, Maria comes to vivid life through Angelina Jolie's embodiment of her: the imperious presence, courage, nobility, and pain.  

In the post screening discussion at this year's Telluride Film Festival where I first saw "Maria," Jolie said she channeled Callas' stoicism, her pride, and her refusal to indulge in self-pity. Jolie added that she had the best job in the world, studying opera for seven months, blending her voice with Callas’ in scenes selected from seven operas, six of them tragedies. Director Larraín explained Callas' appeal, expressing gratitude to his mother who took him as a boy to operas in Santiago. Born after Callas' death in 1977 (when the film begins)  Larraín described the movie as, "When she decides to sing, for the first time, for herself and no one else," adding, "The music is and defines the film.”

Multiple award-winning cinematographer Ed Lachman interprets this world through sumptuous details: golden hues, and compositions suggesting the proscenium viewpoint of an audience, which we are for Maria, while slowly inching his camera inches into her world. Again at Telluride, Lachman described using cool blues and greens to define Maria's domestic world where she hides to protect herself. He chose black-and-white footage for past events and super-8 film for enhanced personal moments, these different film stocks creatively interpreting emotions. He said, "We didn't have an aggressive camera telling you what you should feel or see, creating a sense of mystery that you will never completely understand." The density of the visuals, music, and sound, of the space that often dwarfs Maria, and of her conflicted self makes this a fitting tribute to Maria Callas.