Angelina Jolie Becomes an Oscar Favorite in 'Maria'

         At the 2024 Venice Film Festival, Angelina Jolie established herself as an early Oscar contender in 'Maria', which has garnered predominantly positive reviews from critics, currently holding at 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. In the film, "The tumultuous, beautiful and tragic story of the life of the world’s greatest female opera singer, relived and reimagined during her final days in 1970s Paris." The ensemble cast includes Pierfrancesco Favino, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alba Rohrwacher, and Haluk Bilginer. But what did the critics say?

  

Photo by Christina DelliSante on Unsplash

        Joey Magidson of Awards Radar says, "Between Jackie and Spencer, Pablo Larraín has become a filmmaker closely associated with tragic women. He returns once again to that subject matter for Maria, a look at the final days in the life of opera legend Maria Callas. In some ways, this is familiar territory to be trafficking in, but in other ways, it’s a far different work. Playing at the Telluride Film Festival, the movie is deeply sad, hauntingly beautiful, and features a career best performance from Angelina Jolie. Maria is a neater work than Jackie and Spencer in some ways, while in others, it’s a much sadder film, which is saying something. Jolie is incredible, as were Natalie Portman and Kristen Stewart before her, with Larraín capturing her perfectly. The investment in the character and the role pay off, as this is once again a chilly work, potentially keeping some at even more of a distance due to Callas being less well known to some audience members than Jackie Kennedy and Princess Diana." Adding, "Maria features Angelina Jolie's best work in Pablo Larraín's latest tragic biopic."

       Scott Menzel of We Live Entertainment writes, "Jolie disappears into the role thanks to her committed performance as well as the remarkable costume and hair & makeup team that worked alongside her." Continuing, "Pablo Larraín has slowly started to build an impressive body of work. His films have a distinct look, and his vision as a filmmaker is entirely on display with each new project. Larraín clearly has a passion for history and loves to blur the line between reality and fiction. Maria, like all of his previous outings, is absolutely gorgeous to look at. The cinematography by Edward Lachman is superb, as each frame looks and feels like a work of art. While the subject matter of Larraín’s films have limited appeal, it’s hard to argue that he knows how to get incredible performances out of all his actors, no matter how big or small their role might be. This is one thing that has consistently blown me away about Larraín. He is an actor’s director and has proven that time and time again."

       Stephanie Zacharek of TIME Magazine was less impressed, stating, "Maria may burnish her legend. But it also snuffs out her spark." Continuing, "Meanwhile, too many times to count, Jolie’s Maria gazes into the middle distance, mourning the person, the presence, the artist she used to be, reflecting aloud on her one true love, the “ugly and dead”—as she puts it—Aristotle Onassis. (When he appears in the movie's flashback scenes, a wily gnome in evening dress, he’s played by Turkish actor Haluk Bilginer.) Every gesture Jolie makes is tragic and quivering; when she smiles, it’s the wan, magnanimous kind, as if she really couldn’t be bothered. This is a performance from the “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful” school, a great artist’s final days rendered with a self-conscious sheen that has nothing to do with the inherent grandness, or sadness, of Callas’s life."

       Nicholas Barber of BBC praises the film, stating, "Knight has written countless lines of spikily witty, quotable dialogue, and it's never a chore to watch a beautiful actor wearing beautiful outfits in beautiful Paris locations." Adding, "We all know from the opening scene that Callas's week is not going to end with a miraculous comeback, so her physical and mental wanderings don't have any tension or momentum. The film is also too adoring and reverential to let us sympathise with its supposedly fragile heroine. Unusually for someone who is drug-addled and terminally ill, Jolie's Callas never looks anything less than magnificent, and she is always supremely dignified, poised and confident, out-quipping everyone who crosses her path. "What did you take," asks her butler, after his boss has been to her well-stocked medicine cabinet. "I took liberties all my life," she replies, "and the world took liberties with me"."