\n<\/p>\n
Callas is not, of course, quite as famous as Jackie<\/em> or Spencer,<\/em> and the movie takes care to introduce her to less informed viewers. Born in New York to Greek immigrants, Callas grew up in poverty and sang at her mother\u2019s behest for money, before her singular skills as a soprano launched her career in Italy. She battled mental and physical health struggles all her life while pushing opera forward in the popular imagination, amid its turn toward elitist circles. (As the movie demonstrates, at least in \u201970s Paris, she was very famous.) Shot on film by Edward Lachman<\/strong> (Oscar-nominated earlier this year for Larra\u00edn\u2019s El Conde<\/em>), Maria<\/em> cuts between striking color photography in the present, as our struggling heroine returns to voice lessons amid rumors of a comeback, and cool black-and-white flashbacks that showcase Callas at the height of her powers while deep into her love affair with Aristotle Onassis (Haluk Bilginer<\/strong>)\u2014the shipping magnate who, in a nice bit of full-circle storytelling from Larra\u00edn, eventually left Callas to marry Jackie Kennedy.<\/p>\n Jolie\u2019s approach to her character is simultaneously heartbreaking, erratic, and imposing, displaying a cellular kind of understanding of Callas\u2019s desperation to reclaim herself before it\u2019s too late. \u201cThis is the greatest diva of the 20th century, and who could play that?\u201d Larra\u00edn says. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to work with someone that didn\u2019t have that already. I needed an actress who would naturally and organically be that diva, carry that weight, be that presence. Angelina was there.\u201d He describes her preparation as \u201cvery long, very particular, very difficult.\u201d She worked on posture. She studied breathing. She developed an accent befitting a woman of both the world and another plane of fame. Then came the voice lessons.<\/p>\n Yes, that really is Angelina Jolie singing, although not just her. Larra\u00edn and his star worked closely with Oscar winner John Warhurst<\/strong> (Bohemian Rhapsody,<\/em> the upcoming Michael<\/em>), who as Larra\u00edn puts it has \u201cdedicated his life to actors who sing in movies,\u201d to create innovative, synthesized recordings.<\/p>\n Over months, Jolie learned her subject\u2019s cadence and her signatures. Eventually, she got to the point where she\u2019d hear the operas in an earpiece while singing them herself. Larra\u00edn and Warhurst would record Jolie\u2019s performance, then mix it with Callas\u2019s. \u201cYou always listen to Angelina and you always listen to Maria Callas,\u201d as Larra\u00edn puts it. \u201cWhen we listen to Maria Callas in her prime, most of the sound is Callas\u201490%, 95%\u2014and when we listen to Callas older and in the present, almost all of it is Angelina.\u201d Worth noting: The bulk of the film takes place in the present.<\/p>\n Larra\u00edn describes seemingly contradictory tasks. One: \u201cHow can you make a movie about Maria Callas without using her voice? You can\u2019t.\u201d And two: \u201cYou can\u2019t make a movie like this with an actress that is not actually singing it.\u201d It\u2019s not karaoke, he stresses. \u201cThis is the real thing\u2014it was very scary for her, but she did it.\u201d When they finally got to filming, Larra\u00edn noticed just how deep his star had gone\u2014appropriate, maybe, given the rawness of the material and the extent of training Jolie completed before actually being able to attack it.<\/p>\n A few weeks in, Larra\u00edn stopped giving Jolie instructions. The best direction was silence; the best note was no note. \u201cIt was so truthful, we just kept rolling and let her do her thing,\u201d he says. \u201cShe can let you in when she wants, and she can create a distance where she wants. It\u2019s a dance of vulnerability.\u201d<\/p>\n Larra\u00edn takes an unusual hands-on approach to his sets: He acts as his own camera operator. So even as he gave Jolie her space, they were connected. \u201cIt\u2019s very intimate because this is a film where the camera is often very close to her\u2014so we were together all the time,\u201d Larra\u00edn says. \u201cSometimes she would feel me. We would complete a take and she would look at me, just by the way I would look at her.\u201d He calls their dynamic \u201csensorial.\u201d<\/p>\n Capping Larra\u00edn\u2019s makeshift trilogy, Maria<\/em> is the most deeply felt and wholly realized of the films. Credit certainly goes to Jolie\u2019s searing turn and the movie\u2019s immaculate craft\u2014you\u2019ll remember while watching that Lachman, best known for lensing Todd Haynes<\/strong>\u2019s Carol<\/em> and Far From Heaven,<\/em> is a master of period cinematography\u2014and the score being driven by an opera legend imbues Maria<\/em> with tremendous emotion. Yet it ultimately comes down to the director\u2019s vision. Larra\u00edn\u2019s exacting approach to these biopics has drawn critical acclaim, but the actors at their center tend to, inevitably, gobble up the attention (and awards recognition). That ought to change here. This may be the most personal film Larra\u00edn has ever made.<\/p>\n His initial way into Maria<\/em> was rooted in a longstanding desire to make a movie about an artist. \u201cAs she was singing, she was living everything she had been through on the stage,\u201d Larra\u00edn says. \u201cThat\u2019s why she was also very respected, not only because of the quality and the color and the specificity of her voice, but also the way<\/em> she performed.\u201d He says capturing that on film felt exposing. How? \u201cI connected through how the crafting of your work can sometimes be devastating,\u201d he says. \u201cEven though this is the story of a woman that lived from the \u201920s to the \u201970s and had a completely different life from me, there is a fragility that is unavoidable. It\u2019s impossible to hide yourself.\u201d He continues, \u201cShe burned her voice, her life, by doing her work\u2014and I think that I burned myself a little bit doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n Maria will premiere this Thursday at the Venice Film Festival and is seeking U.S. distribution. This feature is part of<\/em> Awards Insider\u2019s exclusive fall film coverage<\/em><\/a>, featuring first looks and in-depth interviews with some of this coming season\u2019s biggest contenders.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n