Between Jackie, Spencer, and, now, Maria, Pablo Larraín has thrice committed the cardinal sin of taking a female icon of the 20th century and, in an attempt to hold a mirror up to her multitudes, flattened her into the equivalent of a kitschy postage stamp. Though his sense of style seems like an attempt to absolve him of indulging in the generic tendencies of the biopic, his dependence on repeating the same ideas with the same self-seriousness does a disservice to his supposed goal of bestowing a sense of agency on complex, hyper-surveilled icons of femininity. Too often, as in Maria, he conflates a woman moping around empty rooms to brash music with a more tactile notion of interiority or complexity.
So it’s a shame that Angelina Jolie—portraying Callas in the final week of her life, living somewhat isolated in an opulent Paris apartment—is relegated to playing by the Larraín rulebook.
So it’s a shame that Angelina Jolie—portraying Callas in the final week of her life, living somewhat isolated in an opulent Paris apartment—is relegated to playing by the Larraín rulebook.
- 9/30/2024
- by Kyle Turner
- Slant Magazine
“Maria,” Pablo Larraín’s drama about the legendary American-born Greek soprano Maria Callas, begins on the day of her death, September 16, 1977. As thin as a wraith, clad in a white nightgown, she has collapsed on the living-room floor of her very grand Paris apartment. The film then flashes back to one week before; most of it takes place during that week (though it’s dotted with key episodes from Callas’s life). So we know exactly where this is going. But we don’t just know where it’s going because the movie is set during that fateful final week. We know it because the story “Maria” tells is that of a neurotic death spiral.
The apartment, with its chandeliers hanging from high ceilings, its wooden walls and large old canvases, as well as the most luxurious bed I think I’ve ever seen in a movie, is splendid enough...
The apartment, with its chandeliers hanging from high ceilings, its wooden walls and large old canvases, as well as the most luxurious bed I think I’ve ever seen in a movie, is splendid enough...
- 8/29/2024
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
‘Maria’ Review: Angelina Jolie’s Maria Callas Suffers at a Chilly Distance in Pablo Larraín’s Biopic
In Jackie and Spencer, Pablo Larraín removed any trace of starch from the historical bio-drama to examine, with penetrating intimacy, famous women in moments of extreme emotional distress played out in the glare of a global spotlight. Intimacy is the key factor lacking in the third part of the gifted Chilean director’s unofficial trilogy, Maria. Starring Angelina Jolie as revered operatic soprano Maria Callas over the final week of her life in Paris, the movie is like a glittering jewel in a glass showcase, inviting you to look but not touch.
That doesn’t mean it’s uninvolving or that Jolie’s technically precise interpretation isn’t impressive. But there’s a meta collision between a star whose celebrity has long eclipsed her acting achievements, making it all but impossible for her to disappear into a character, and a subject who constructed an imperious persona for herself, performing even...
That doesn’t mean it’s uninvolving or that Jolie’s technically precise interpretation isn’t impressive. But there’s a meta collision between a star whose celebrity has long eclipsed her acting achievements, making it all but impossible for her to disappear into a character, and a subject who constructed an imperious persona for herself, performing even...
- 8/29/2024
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Angelina Jolie detailed her preparation to play opera icon Maria Callas in Pablo Larraín’s “Maria” at its Venice Film Festival press conference, saying she trained for “almost seven months.”
“Maria” reunites Larraín and writer Steven Knight — whose last project, “Spencer,” bowed in Venice in 2021 — and tells the “tumultuous, beautiful and tragic story of the life of the world’s greatest opera singer, relived and reimagined during her final days in 1970s Paris.”
“Everybody here knows, I was terribly nervous,” she said of learning to sing opera. “I spent almost seven months training because when you work with Pablo you can’t do anything by half. He demands, in the most wonderful way, that you really do the work and you really learn and train.”
Jolie said she “had not sung in public” before, which added to the pressure when filming packed theater scenes at Paris’ La Scala theater.
“My...
“Maria” reunites Larraín and writer Steven Knight — whose last project, “Spencer,” bowed in Venice in 2021 — and tells the “tumultuous, beautiful and tragic story of the life of the world’s greatest opera singer, relived and reimagined during her final days in 1970s Paris.”
“Everybody here knows, I was terribly nervous,” she said of learning to sing opera. “I spent almost seven months training because when you work with Pablo you can’t do anything by half. He demands, in the most wonderful way, that you really do the work and you really learn and train.”
Jolie said she “had not sung in public” before, which added to the pressure when filming packed theater scenes at Paris’ La Scala theater.
“My...
- 8/29/2024
- by Ellise Shafer, Alex Ritman and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Make way for Angelina Jolie on Netflix! The Academy Award-winning actress brings her most recent buzzy movie to the streaming service after a hiatus from the screen since 2021's Marvel Cinematic Universe title Eternals, and it's surely going to be an event.
On Wednesday, Aug. 28, Netflix picked up the rights to Jolie's upcoming film Maria, ahead of its Aug. 29 premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The film comes from director Pablo Larraín, who has directed such Academy Award-nominated films as Jackie, Spencer, and El Conde.
Maria was written by Stephen Knight, who's known as the creator of Peaky Blinders and the writer of many movies, including the aforementioned Spencer. Knight also created and wrote Netflix's Emmy-nominated limited series All the Light We Cannot See.
In the movie, Jolie plays the world renown opera singer Maria Callas, who passed away at the age of 53 in 1977 while in Paris. Maria looks...
On Wednesday, Aug. 28, Netflix picked up the rights to Jolie's upcoming film Maria, ahead of its Aug. 29 premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The film comes from director Pablo Larraín, who has directed such Academy Award-nominated films as Jackie, Spencer, and El Conde.
Maria was written by Stephen Knight, who's known as the creator of Peaky Blinders and the writer of many movies, including the aforementioned Spencer. Knight also created and wrote Netflix's Emmy-nominated limited series All the Light We Cannot See.
In the movie, Jolie plays the world renown opera singer Maria Callas, who passed away at the age of 53 in 1977 while in Paris. Maria looks...
- 8/28/2024
- by Reed Gaudens
- Netflix Life
Call the Midwife has been recommissioned for a fifth series.
The BBC1 period drama will also return for a Christmas special in 2015, as well as eight new hour-long episodes in 2016.
The fifth series will see the nuns and midwives entering 1961.
The fourth series has just finished filming, while viewing figures for the opening of series three reached 11.4 million.
Ben Stephenson, controller of BBC Drama commissioning, said: "Call the Midwife is one of UK's most popular dramas and in series four, Heidi Thomas's writing meets new heights.
"I'm delighted to be commissioning a new series."
Miranda Hart, Pam Ferris, Jenny Agutter and Helen George will all return for the Christmas special and new episodes for series four, while Fresh Meat's Charlotte Ritchie is joining the cast.
Jessica Raine departed the show after an emotional third series finale earlier this year. Raine's character Jenny Lee quit her role as a...
The BBC1 period drama will also return for a Christmas special in 2015, as well as eight new hour-long episodes in 2016.
The fifth series will see the nuns and midwives entering 1961.
The fourth series has just finished filming, while viewing figures for the opening of series three reached 11.4 million.
Ben Stephenson, controller of BBC Drama commissioning, said: "Call the Midwife is one of UK's most popular dramas and in series four, Heidi Thomas's writing meets new heights.
"I'm delighted to be commissioning a new series."
Miranda Hart, Pam Ferris, Jenny Agutter and Helen George will all return for the Christmas special and new episodes for series four, while Fresh Meat's Charlotte Ritchie is joining the cast.
Jessica Raine departed the show after an emotional third series finale earlier this year. Raine's character Jenny Lee quit her role as a...
- 11/3/2014
- Digital Spy
The first picture of Charlotte Ritchie in Call the Midwife has been released by the BBC.
Fresh Meat star Ritchie joins the cast of the smash hit period drama, replacing Jessica Raine, who exited at the end of the last series.
Ritchie will play rookie nurse Barbara Gilbert in the show and by the look of the first picture, she's struggling to get to grips with life at Nonnatus House.
Linda Bassett has also joined the show for series four, playing veteran nurse Phyllis Crane.
Miranda Hart, Pam Ferris, Jenny Agutter and Helen George will all return for the Christmas special and new episodes.
Trixie's (Helen George) romance with Tom Hereward (Jack Ashton) looks likely to be a central storyline for the fourth series, judging from two other new pictures released today (August 5).
Jessica Raine departed the show after an emotional third series finale earlier this year. Raine's character Jenny Lee...
Fresh Meat star Ritchie joins the cast of the smash hit period drama, replacing Jessica Raine, who exited at the end of the last series.
Ritchie will play rookie nurse Barbara Gilbert in the show and by the look of the first picture, she's struggling to get to grips with life at Nonnatus House.
Linda Bassett has also joined the show for series four, playing veteran nurse Phyllis Crane.
Miranda Hart, Pam Ferris, Jenny Agutter and Helen George will all return for the Christmas special and new episodes.
Trixie's (Helen George) romance with Tom Hereward (Jack Ashton) looks likely to be a central storyline for the fourth series, judging from two other new pictures released today (August 5).
Jessica Raine departed the show after an emotional third series finale earlier this year. Raine's character Jenny Lee...
- 8/5/2014
- Digital Spy
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