PABLO LARRAÍN | ITALY, GERMANY, BELGIUM | 2024 | 124 MIN | ENGLISH, GREEK
Oscar-winner Angelina Jolie lends her tremendous star power and otherworldly talent to this moving look at another iconic performer: legendary opera singer Maria Callas. Directed by Chilean auteur Pablo Larraín, Maria follows the American-Greek soprano in the final week of her life, as she holes up in a lavish Paris apartment several years after retiring from the stage. Addled by addiction and consumed by memories of her past glories, she still plays the diva in her domestic sphere, lording over her staff and holding forth for an interviewer (Kodi Smit-McPhee) about her past triumphs and heartaches. Through flashbacks, Larraín offers glimpses of this remarkable life, from a traumatic childhood in Nazi-occupied Greece to a tumultuous relationship with charismatic business magnate Aristotle Onassis (Haluk Bilginer). Maria, the third film in Larraín’s unofficial trilogy after Jackie and Spencer, is a sumptuous and heart-wrenching look at a woman in her twilight grasping at every ounce of class and poise that she has. Jolie trained for months for this demanding role, channeling both the power and the trembling vulnerability of Callas at this late stage of her life. Re-teaming with Larraín after receiving an Academy Award nomination for his work on last year’s El Conde, venerable cinematographer Edward Lachman sensuously evokes 1970s Paris as the soundtrack swells and entices the viewers into Maria’s world. Much like hearing its titular character sing, the film itself is an ode to the soul and care that Maria Callas put into every performance and lays bare all of her triumph.
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher, Haluk Bilginer, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Stephen Ashfield, Valeria Golino
All sales are final. Admission is not guaranteed after scheduled start time.
Click HERE for more information about the 33rd Philadelphia Film Festival