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Biopics are extremely hard to pull off, obviously those characters in life that ever get a Biopic made out of their life have a lot to tell making it hard for the production to perform as good as the audience would be expecting. Maria (2024) directed by Pablo Larrain in my opinion is one of the best biopic I have seen very recent, I want to say that I might a bit bias towards this movie since I love Angelina Jolie and to me it is only destiny for her or a diva on her level to do this movie.
The movie develops around the legendary opera singer Maria Callas during her final days in 1977, even as a big Angelina Jolie fan I got to say I was satisfied with the movie, lots of emotions but at the same time a bit confused, the movie is both beautiful and frustrating at the same time because of pace and a bit too much drama for my taste.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22893404/
- Platform: NETFLIX
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At the age of 53, the movie describe her final days, its not the classic or more traditional biopic that tells the story from birth to death and her acolytes, the format is more intimate as Maria struggles as she face the worst fear of her career, that's loosing her greatest gift, her voice. The movie perfectly catches this feeling of loss and isolation in a way that's both visually stunning and emotionally draining, there is literally nothing that can be done, similar to loosing senses like hearing or eye sight, once a singer of the caliber as Maria Callas loose her voice there is nothing that can be done about specially during the 70s.
Her luxurious apartment in Paris at times felt more like an island and a prison, a cage and not home, as Maria goes into isolation. The movie does something very interesting at presenting her flashbacks in black and white while the rest of the movie or present day scenes is in full color, creating this dreamlike effect to separate reality from blurry memories, it even feels like a haunting past, one that was not particular bad but its that same success that hunts her now that she has lost her gift.
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Maria Callas in her final days, living in Paris with only her loyal butler Ferruccio and housekeeper Bruna for company, she spends her days listening to her old recordings, taking various medications and being interviewed by a young filmmaker who may or may not be a figment of her imagination this is another interesting aspect of the movie that makes me question the flashbacks and the medications relation or was it just coincidence, throughout these conversations and flashbacks we learn about her complicated relationship with shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, her troubled childhood during World War II and the intense pressure she faced as one of the world's most celebrated opera singers.
The movie shows us how Callas was essentially trapped between two identities, the real Maria and "La Callas," the larger than life diva that the world expected her to be and here is when I think it had to be Angelina playing this role. During the entire movie Maria is struggling with this duality as she tries to regain her voice while dealing with heart problems and a growing dependence on medications, there was no reason to push it as she already had it all and won it all, there was nothing else to do for her proof herself so makes me think if this voice situation was mostly for ego?!
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Angelina Jolie delivers what might be her strongest performance in years as Maria Callas, she completely transforms into the role, going deep into the diva's commanding presence and her vulnerability, it's also been mention that Angelina was training for seven months to learn opera, she manages to make the lip syncing scenes feel authentic and powerful, especially during the moments when Callas attempts to sing in her declining years, there's something heartbreaking about watching her character try to recapture the magic that once came so naturally.
The movie is not straight clear in a few things as it keeps going back and forward between memories that at times even felt like fantasy, but the ending is special when you understand how it all comes together in those final moments. The movie shows Callas's death on September 16, 1977, in her Paris apartment but what makes it powerful is how everything before leads to this point. Throughout the movie we see her struggling with her medications, particularly Mandrax as it is a very powerful drug that can create hallucinations, but it's her acceptance of her fate that really stands out. In her final days she is constantly listening to her old recordings, even though she claims they are too perfect and lack the raw emotion of live performance, eventually she makes peace with her present, legacy and her limitations at the time. When the moment finally comes, she is alone in her apartment which feels right for someone who spent her later years in isolation, even with loyal staff like Ferruccio and Bruna around. The movie doesn't try to make her death dramatic, instead showing it with a quiet dignity that matches how she lived her final days. The movie kept the blend of reality with her imagination right until the end, this is why you are never quite sure if what we are seeing is really happening or if it's just in her mind, especially with those scenes with the young filmmaker who might or might not be real, this might turn frustrating for many viewers, not been sure of whats is real or not but that's the catch or the trick of many movies. Fans or those closer to Maria Callas career could turn mad with this type of biopic instead of your more traditional one, well if that the case they might look for a documentary, movies are meant to be fiction to a certain extend even when they are based on real life events.
Maria (2024) was a bold type of biopic, with a less traditional timeline the movie still provides a very over all story of Maria Callas. Full of memories, feelings and a very traumatic mood for the most part the movie does a great job at make you feel, probably not exactly as the main character but making the audience have feelings for the movie other than anger is something really special that I think makes it work, especially when its a drama type of movie like this. Putting the Biopic aspect of the movie if it was about any other fictional singer the movie is great by itself, the only word that fucks it up is "biopic", so if you love drama movies with twisted timeline going back and forward in time and a bit dilution character on her last days I think Maria (2024) is a great movie I would totally recommend, I still gave it a 7.5/10 that might sound surprising compared to the overall sentiment of the internet towards the movie, all my posts are my own opinion and there will be many many times when I might not align with the rest of the audience and that's great since that's the point of a movie, make you feel things and take your mind somewhere else.
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