December 11, 2024
Courtesy: Netflix
Maria is the newest biographical film about legendary Greek opera singer Maria Callas, starring Academy Award winner Angelina Jolie as the iconic singer with a creative reimagining of her final days after she retreats to Paris in the 1970s following a glamorous, tumultuous life in the public eye. The film has amassed critical acclaim with notable praise for Jolie's captivating performance, who has already garnered a Golden Globe nomination and is already a strong contender for the Oscars in the Best Actress category next year. The film premiered on Netflix on December 11, with its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival this past summer.
Created by Steven Knight and directed by Pablo Larraín in his third directorial biopic (Jackie (2016) and Spencer (2021)), the film is internationally produced and distributed by MUBI, 01 Distribution, StudioCanal, and Netflix.
The film stars:
Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas
Aggelina Papadopoulou as young Maria Callas
Pierfrancesco Favino as Ferruccio
Alba Rohrwacher as Bruna
Haluk Bilginer as Aristotle Onassis
Kodi Smit-McPhee as Mandrax
Valeria Golino as Yakinthi Callas
Alessandro Bressanello as Giovanni Battista Meneghini
Caspar Phillipson as John F. Kennedy
Courtesy: Netflix
The real Callas is known for her larger than life personality and beautiful voice, peppered with addictions and scandals. She died of a heart attack in 1977, when she was only 53. Jolie underwent intense preparation to prepare for the all-consuming role and learned how to sing opera, finding it an emotional experience. The end result was a blend of Jolie and Callas' voices to make the singing authentically perfect to bring Callas' voice to the screen.
Jolie is absolutely magnetic with a breathtaking performance that brings euphoria as she completely embodies the role of Callas with her talent radiating with every line, every syllable, every encapsulating flawless note. She brings Callas' insecurities, struggles, ambitions, delusions of grandeur, happiness, hopes, and fears and twists the knife in memories that are mesmerizing, flushing Callas' complexities with nuanced pathos.
Speaking to Netflix's Tudum, Larraín reveals that the movie is about someone who is looking to find her voice and understand her identity as he and Jolie set the stage for Callas' final act as she attempts to sing for an audience of 1.
This is Jolie's first movie in almost three years, and it was well worth the wait for the veteran actress.
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Maria is currently streaming on Netflix.
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