{"id":27894,"date":"2025-01-01T10:00:21","date_gmt":"2025-01-01T09:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/?p=27894"},"modified":"2025-02-02T13:10:38","modified_gmt":"2025-02-02T12:10:38","slug":"why-is-the-callas-biopic-the-film-of-a-lifetime-for-angelina-jolie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/why-is-the-callas-biopic-the-film-of-a-lifetime-for-angelina-jolie\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is the Callas biopic the film of a lifetime for Angelina Jolie?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Callas biopic \u201cMaria\u201d, the latest in a trilogy directed by Pablo Larrain, could well win Angelina Jolie her second Best Actress Oscar. While the film has divided international critics, Jolie’s performance has won unanimous acclaim…<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Angelina Joliereceived an eight-minute standing ovation<\/strong> at the Venice Film Festival this summer for her title role in \u201cMaria\u201d.<\/strong> The film made its world premiere there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Perhaps not as much as the 13 minutes reserved for Callas’ farewell<\/strong> at her final concert in Montreal on May 13, 1974, in front of 3,000 people…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pablo Larrain’s last biopic<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Still, it’s a fine indication of the success of Angelina Jolie’s interpretation of the most famous of singers in Pablo Larra\u00edn’s latest film.<\/strong> More controversial<\/strong> than the American star’s reincarnation of Maria Callas, however,<\/strong> was its<\/strong> direction<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
\u00a9 Pablo Larrain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is the last film in the American-Chilian director’s trilogy<\/strong> devoted to famous women, all struck by tragic fate.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Each time, Pablo Larrain chooses the climax of these lives to build his biopics.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Released in 2016, \u201cJackie\u201d<\/strong>recounted the days following the assassination<\/strong> in Dallas on November 22, 1963 of Jacqueline Bouvier, aka Jackie, her celebrated husband <\/strong>and 35th President of the United States, John Kennedy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Released in 2021, \u201cSpencer\u201d<\/strong> focused on Lady Di’s personal crisis<\/strong> during the 1991 Christmas festivities, when she began to think about separating from her royal husband.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A tragic end to life<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

And finally, \u201cMaria\u201d chose the bleak years of Callas’s later life<\/strong>, reclusive in her Paris apartment, having lost her vocal abilities. In 1977,<\/strong> at the age of 53<\/strong>, she died of a heart attack<\/strong>. This period contrasts poignantly with the luminous voice and career<\/strong> of the Greek-American singer, born in New York in 1923.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Maria Callas portrait<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Flashbacks to Callas’s past loves and triumphs<\/strong> reinforce the pathetic tone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The dramatic spring of Pablo Larrain’s three biopics already guaranteed success<\/strong> with the general public, who are always attracted by unhappy icons (who reassure them that, after all, beautiful, rich and famous women have no right to happiness, and that a cushy existence is better…).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But the director has intensified the martingale of success<\/strong> by casting his heroines in the roles of well-known actresses.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

American Kristen Stewart,<\/strong> Lady Di<\/strong>‘s cinematic avatar, already had a successful career under her belt: her first role at the age of 12<\/strong> in David Fincher’s thriller Panic Room, which won her a BAFTA Rising Star in 2010,<\/strong> followed by a role in the Twilight saga, one of the most profitable franchises in cinema history, and numerous roles in big-budget independent productions such as Sils Maria by French director Olivier Assayas<\/strong> in 2014. Thanks to which she won the C\u00e9sar for Best Supporting Actress<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Her role in \u201cSpencer\u201d earned her Oscar and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actress<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Recognized stars<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

And there’s no need to introduce Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman, who played \u201cJackie\u201d.<\/strong> She has already garnered numerous awards<\/strong> for her career, including the Oscar for Best Actress in 2011<\/strong> for her role in \u201cBlack Swan\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Finally, by casting Angelina Jolie as Maria Calla<\/strong>s, Pablo Larrain has taken things up a notch, with the actress enjoying the same aura of worldwide superstardom<\/strong> as Callas had in the world of opera.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
\u00a9 Pablo Larrain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Known, like the singer, as much for her talent as for her private life<\/strong> (and her resounding divorce from Brad Pitt), the 49-year-old actress embodied it with great accuracy. Like Callas, forsaken by Greek billionaire Onassis for… Jackie Kennedy, Angelina Jolie has experienced the mid-life pangs of a disappointing, high-profile love affair.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In a press conference, she confessed that she shared the diva’s vulnerability<\/strong>…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The role of a lifetime<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the opinion of many, Angelina Jolie,<\/strong> \u201ctruly inhabited\u201d, has found the role (if not the man…) of her life.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAngelina Jolie’s largely theatrical but delicately untied performance seems both immersive and revelatory<\/strong>, as if Maria Callas were allowing her to reclaim her own identity as an artist and a human being\u201d, praised the specialist website IndieWire.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
\u00a9 Pablo Larrain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Many critics were struck by the resemblance between the American actress and the haughty Greek opera singer,<\/strong> metamorphosed into an icon of elegance after her mysterious diet. Make-up – cat eyes highlighted with eyeliner and prominent cheekbones – mega-glasses, ultra-elegant outfits and polished images, sometimes in color, sometimes in black and white, helped to perfect the illusion.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To complete her immersion in the soul of Callas, Angelina Jolie didn’t hesitate to take singing lessons<\/strong> and work intensively for six months<\/strong> on her regal posture and accent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Highly motivated<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

It’s true that she was highly motivated by the role<\/strong>. At the end of 2022, the actress had declared in a press release that she would \u201cgive\u201d everything she could \u201cto take up the challenge\u201d.<\/strong> \u201cPablo Larra\u00edn is a director I’ve admired for a long time. To have the chance to tell Maria’s story with him, on a screenplay by Steven Knight (who had already written the screenplay for Jackie, ed. note)<\/strong>, is a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Having already won the Best Actress Oscar in 2000<\/strong> for James Mangold’s \u201cA Stolen Life\u201d, Angelina Jolie is now one of the favourites for this award at the forthcoming 2025 Oscars.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
\u00a9 Golden Globes\/Netflix<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joining Jolie on the biopic poster are Italian actress Valeria Golino,<\/strong> playing Jackie Kennedy, and actors Pierfrancesco Favino (Last Night in Milan), Alba Rohrwacher (Happy as Lazzaro), Haluk Bilginer (Winter Sleep) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog).<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Released on Netflix on October 28 in the U.S.<\/strong>, \u201cMaria\u201d will be released theatrically in France from February 5.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Whether you’re a fan of opera, Maria Callas, Angelina Jolie or all three, the film is a must-see. Everyone will be able to decide between the opinion of Le Figaro, which saw it as \u201can agreed-upon film<\/strong> that rings false\u201d, and The Guardian, which hailed it as \u201ca successful drama capable of sweeping viewers off their feet<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n