24/20
I want to be adored
Chronology
Maria Callas, the world’s greatest opera singer, lives out the final days of her life in 1970s Paris, where she grapples with her identity and her life. Angelina Jolie and director Pablo Larraín discuss how they were brought together by the heartbreaking true story of world-famous opera singer Maria Callas. The third and final film in Pablo Larraín’s trilogy of biographies of women, The Lady in High Heels, following Jackie (2016) and Spencer (2021). Maria Callas: Book me a table at a café where the waiters know who I am. Mentioned in Close-Up: Why do We Need the Venice Film Festival?
Mysteries and Scandals about Maria Callas
(2024). Otello Act 4: “Ave Maria” (Desdemona)Performed by Maria Callas, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du ConservatoireConductor: Nicola RescignoAuthor: Giuseppe Verdi, Arrigo BoitoWarner Classics Edition, (p) 1964 Parlophone Records LimitedRemastered 2014 Parlophone Records LimitedCourtesy of Warner Music Group Germany Holding GmbH, a Warner Music Group Company. I come at this from a different perspective. I was an opera singer for many years and appeared in E! Although Angelina Jolie is brilliant in this role, it was not entirely representative of the real Maria Callas.
was not Maria
This is the fault of the script and the director’s approach. First, I could have used more music instead of having most of it in the background. We see the audience standing and shouting “Bravo” after “Qui la voce”. Other than that we didn’t hear “Qui la voce”, only a few bars and no coloratura. That indifferent attitude Callas had during interviews etc.
Just an opinion
The interview she gave to John Ardoin where she asked not to play the tapes until she died is the most heartbreaking thing you will ever hear in your life. She was unhappy, codependent and never got over her relationship with Onassis. She was a very damaged woman. I really didn’t get much out of this movie. There were some inconsistencies, but that’s to be expected in a script that has to cover life.
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Maria Callas was a great artist and a deeply complicated human being. This movie doesn’t even come close to who she was. “One Hundred Years of Solitude” is one of the biggest TV and streaming releases this month.