How do you solve a problem like Maria: the portrayal of the soprano singer Maria Callas? Where does a screenwriter begin when telling a turbulent story filled with war, career ups and downs, tragedy and international gossip? Steven Knight's fantastical, seductive and sometimes unsettling script takes a non-linear approach to the Greek-American opera singer's life, setting much of its timeline in the last week of her life in September 1977. Maria is currently streaming on Afdah Tv.
The film is the third in director Pablo Larraín's trilogy about the dark paparazzi princess, following Jackie (as Kennedy) and Spencer (as Diana). It's no spoiler to reveal that the biopic-turned-memorial continues until Callas' death. The film begins with her body being carried out of her luxurious Paris apartment in front of her faithful servants. It's no surprise that the first aria you hear is the "Ave Maria" from Verdi's Otello, sung by Callas, playing the doomed Desdemona, just before she suffocates to death. In the documentary Maria Callas: The Last Days, when Callas (Angelina Jolie) reflects on her life in a fictional interview (named after her favorite sedative) with the lanky German reporter Mandrax (an understated Kodi Smit-McPhee), the tone remains sad.
She holds court (figuratively speaking) by taking off the interviewer's pants. Her philosophy on life can be summed up as follows: Life is an opera. As she strolls and converses with Mandrax across the Trocadero, a male passerby breaks into song, serenading her with the "Anvil Chorus" from Il Trovatore (also heard in A Night at the Opera). Fantasy.
Ed Lachman's cinematography dispels any gloom or gloom, as his lush imagery accentuates the autumn colors of Paris. The production design is similarly gorgeous, particularly Callas's Louis XIV-inspired apartment, featuring gold accents, decorative wood friezes, and parquet floors. Larraín even filmed recreations of Callas' iconic performances in Norma and Medea on stage at La Scala, a refreshing change from today's reliance on digital backdrops. However, the director's penchant for visual effects can sometimes slow the pace, with perhaps too many shots of Callas wandering the streets. Still, the beauty of the City of Light often steals the show.
Knight's script is reminiscent in places of Terrence McNally's acclaimed 1995 play The Master Class, which focused on Callas' brief teaching stint at Juilliard in the early 1970s. Like McNally's work, Knight's screenplay emphasizes Callas' sharp wit and attention to personal style. On screen, Jolie's Callas is impeccably dressed and oozes elegance in every shot.
