“Maria” film criticism: death aria of an opera diva

Pablo Larrain follows another of his great portraits of women, which have now become the trademark of the Chilean director. “Maria” is about the last days of an opera diva in which dream and reality, tragedy and size mix together, and the music still plays the leading role.

Reminding life near the death

In 1977 Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie) has been silent and has been lived in a luxurious Parisian apartment for years, concerned about a chauffeur (Pierfrancesco Favino) and a housekeeper (Alba Rohrwacher) who are also her only companions and closest families. An increasing consumption of various tablets has not only led to a dramatic deterioration of your health, but above all to increase hallucinations.

Long deceased people who were important to her, like her great love, especially her great love Aristotle Onassis (a brilliant Haluk bilginer), are constantly looking for a visit to a young journalist (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who appears accompanied by a cameraman to make a film about “Die Callas”, only arises from your imagination , as we quickly realize – at the latest, as soon as he introduces himself with a name that is at the same time that of its preferred tablet brand Mandrax (and this is a drug that is used as a intoxication).

Depressing topic with Jolie as a figure of light

The film, according to a script by “Spencer” author Steven Knight, chooses a rather depressing approach that will be deterred by real Callas fans: We will not experience the diva at the height of her fame, but as a woman drawn by death estate forces. At the same time, however, she has also gained a feeling of complete freedom for the first time. The artist's life as a dying woman inevitably brings with it a reduced scope; Therefore, the scene is usually limited to the inside of your apartment – but in the memories the boundaries of space and time are generously exceeded.

A real ray of hope in this dark topic is Angelina Jolie and you can't thank Lorraine enough that he has finally entrusted her again with a demanding role, which unfortunately has far too few in her career so far. Here she shows us in a breathtaking way which great actress is in her if you only offer her a suitable opportunity. In addition, she also took singing lessons for months and we hear her own voice in some games.

A false film in the right one

It is said that in certain moments your life plays like a film before our eyes. This saying was taken literally in “Maria”. The film, which is allegedly in the emergence, that is only available in her head is said to have the title “The last days of a singer”, and Callas is all too clearly aware that she ends. For this she does not need the evaluation of a blood test, which she literally had to be imposed on the concerned chauffeur.

The former size is always around you: During its corridors through the city, it can happen that passers -by formation into an opera choir in their imagination or an orchestra in the open sky plays a melody from “Madame Butterfly”. These effectively implemented visions are often interrupted by correct flashbacks, which are mostly kept in black and white in order to differentiate them purely optically immediately-one of them even goes back to the Second World War, and the young Maria is not by Jolie, but by Aggelina Papadopoulou. (Has Larrain guided by the almost identical first name in this choice?)

Melodramatic death

Nevertheless, the former Primadonna wants to know again whether it is still dominating her art And there is a scene of surrealistic tragicomics: Maria presents herself with almost touching uncertainty when she sings to her housekeeper while she stands on the gas stove and prepares an omelette. Afterwards, Callas visits the opera house every day to be accompanied by an understanding pianist to her hesitating singing attempts. However, the failure of her voice cannot be ignored. The fact that you can also sing to death then shows the somewhat melodramatically implemented finale – although this death scenes should of course be the dream of every opera diva and would have provided thunderous applause on stage.

The counterpart to “Jackie”

Lorraine has now switched to the other side after “Jackie” and it seems attractive to hold its previous film to the new work as a contrast film. There are inevitably overlaps in the appearance of certain figures, because onassis, of course, also his later wife Jackie Kennedy comes into play and once there is a short, rather frosty meeting between Callas and President Kennedy, in which the singer effectively keeps the last word . The director even brings back his former JFK actor Caspar Phillipson for this opportunity; However, Natalie Portman does not get an opportunity for a comeback because Jackie himself does not appear.

In any case, Angelina Jolie has never been better and if she was incomprehensibly ignored this year at the Oscar nominations, she has at least earned a special price in our hearts.

4 out of 5 laps that were too loud to loud opera music