Film No. 7. MARIA. (2025). 20th Jan.

 

Film No. 7 (2025) January 20th.  6.30 PM  LUNA WINDSOR, Cinema 1, Nedlands.

"An exultation, an intoxication. I thought the stage itself would burn." (Maria Callas responds to the question, "how it felt to perform", put to her in her dying days).

 WINNER: Tribute Award (Angelina Jolie) Gotham Awards. (2024).

Are you a get up and "leaver", once the screen goes to black and the credits begin to roll? Well I suggest you stay seated for the file footage of the real Maria Callas when the curtain comes down on Angelina's performance here. 

After making movies about, Jacqueline Kennedy, JACKIE (J) and Princess Diana, SPENCER (S), Pablo Larrain turns his attention to another, often misrepresented soul, opera diva Maria Callas. And while he maintains his original, arthouse technique of interpretation, here he allows Jolie a licence to control us. People who wanted a clean cut, warts and all versions of the lives of J and S were disappointed. The Chilean director is not about to adjust his style. He is empathetic to his subjects. His lens gives them a beauty and depth he believes they deserve. MARIA may well be the best of the three portraits. And if Callas was possibly the least vulnerable of the three, Larrain asks Jolie to give Maria a more arrogant, assured pose. Ms Jolie is very good.

Which brings me back to the rolling of the titles. For me, after being mesmerised by Jolie's interpretation, the silent moving images of Callas shows a happier, more vibrant, crowd friendly person. That's Larrain though, he often leaves you with something to think about.  10GUMS.