Maria (2024) Review!!

Synopsis – Follows the life story of the world’s greatest opera singer, Maria Callas, during her final days in 1970s Paris.

My Take – Having already impressed with his display of capabilities as a sensitive storyteller who knows how to balance tenderness and uneasiness, for his latest, filmmaker Pablo Larraín continues to build his own canon of tragedies faced by important 20th century women by shifting his focus on Maria Callas. The American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of all time.

Released on Netflix, the film can be best described as a tragedy as conveyed in the last days of Callas’s life, with her legendary career highlights folded into the narrative. A primary reason to celebrate the film is its lead. In one of her most powerful yet restrained performances to date, Angelina Jolie embodies the legendary singer and conveys her fierce pride mixed with vulnerability, and that too, without lunging into scene-munching histrionics. The emotional depth, visual splendor, and Jolie‘s transformative performance make this one an experience worth visiting.

However, while the performances and cinematography shine, the film’s pacing and the script from Steven Knight (Peaky Binders) slightly hinder its overall impact. Mainly as the narrative occasionally lingers too long on certain moments, causing the momentum to waver. And though these slower stretches provide space for reflection, they feel uneven in an otherwise interesting story, only adding on to the runtime.

As a third entry of an unofficial trilogy, that include the fantastic Jackie (2016) and Spencer (2021), it is definitely the weakest one of the lot. Nevertheless, its ambitious approach along with its gorgeous camerawork, direction from Larraín, and strong turn from Angelina Jolie deserves praise for the poignant efforts undertaken.

Beginning with her death, the film heads back a week and follows Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie), the former iconic opera singer, who about four years ago retreated to Paris after having lived a glamorous life in the public eye. Under the care of her loyal butler Ferruccio (Pierfrancesco Favino) and housekeeper Bruna (Alba Rohrwacher), Maria faces the faded glory of her voice, the haunting specter of her former legendary status, and the ghostly memory of a cruel mother who forced her sister and her to sing and make other compromising positions for Nazi officers back in Athens.

There is also the matter of a mercurial but deep relationship with Aristotle Onassis (Haluk Bilginer), the Greek shipping magnate who was also one of the richest man in the world at that time. All of these sinister forces have driven her to excessive use of prescription drugs and hallucinatory states.

Between a series of interviews with young filmmaker Mandrax (Kodi Smit-McPhee), in her attempt to capture her life of stardom and her determination to recover her voice to go on tour again, the diva reckons with her identity and life.

Without a doubt, Maria Callas was an interesting figure and while the film unfortunately does feel a bit restrained of how it portrays her and the writing being a bit less ambitious and less creative, in comparison to his earlier works, Larraín‘s direction remains strong throughout and the colorful sets are wonderful.

Capturing the time period, the tense atmosphere and the observation character study. Here, director Larrain and writer Knight‘s interpretation of Callas is strange, seemingly by design, as homage to her larger-than-life status. While she is frail and vulnerable, Maria maintains a thick concrete ego-facade that is apparently a natural product of her massive fame and talent.

There’s also the prevailing notion that her haughtiness is less an affectation than simply who Maria is – a type of person who maintains an absurd degree of poise during her campaign of self-destruction. The trouble is, the narrative never connects the dots of the character’s psyche, even sub-textually. The film feels too preoccupied with its own pretentiousness, too aware of its own pervasive stylistic flourishes to open up. It doesn’t ever allow an earnest moment lest it cease being mysterious and opaque.

Thankfully, all is not dour or downward spiraling. Many of the film’s most glorious moments come in the form of black-and-white vignettes demonstrating Maria’s mastery on the world’s finest stages and fleeting moments of romantic and emotional glow. Some of the most striking scenes in the film involve snippets of the historic diva at her best inter-cut with the fading diva attempting but failing to match her past self.

Channeling the famed opera singer’s vulnerability and strength is Angelina Jolie, who masterfully embodies Callas with a performance reminiscent of her early standout roles. Leaving the excellent Pierfrancesco Favino and Alba Rohrwacher to inject heart and sincerity into the film.

While Haluk Bilginer, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Valeria Golino and Caspar Phillipson make the most out of their screen time limitations. On the whole, ‘Maria’ is a decent yet over-stylized biopic that is anchored by Jolie’s effort and herculean commitment.