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Maria Callas, the world’s greatest opera singer, spends the final days of her life in 1970s Paris, coming to terms with her identity and her life. Angelina Jolie and director Pablo Larrain discuss how they connected to the heartbreaking true story of world-renowned opera singer Maria Callas. Angelina Jolie, refusing to be dubbed and wanting to perform her own singing, spent 7 months training at the opera to prepare for her role. For scenes shot in Callas’ heyday, approximately 90 to 95 percent of Callas’ original recordings were used, with Jolie lip-syncing the songs. However, Jolie’s singing is brought to the fore in the film’s final act. When Angelina Jolie lip-syncs with Maria Callas; the original recordings are used throughout the film, her mouth movements are not synchronized with the audio. Maria Callas: Book me a table in a café where the waiters know who I am. I am in the mood for praise. Close-up reference: Why do we need a Venice Film Festival? (2024). Othello Act 4: ‘Ave Maria’ (Desdemona) Performed by Maria Callas, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire Conductor: Nicola Rescigno Written by Giuseppe Verdi, Arrigo BoitoA Warner Classics Release, (p) 1964 Parlophone Records Limited0Remas4C Parlophone Records Limited Warner Music Group Germany Holding GmbH, a Warner Music Group company. I have to say that director Pablo Larraín’s 2024 entry into his iconic trilogy of 20th-century women was disappointing. It starts with the casting, as Angelina Jolie herself is perhaps too iconic to play the ultimate diva, Maria Callas, who was the least memorable of the trio, the other two being Jackie. (2016) and Diana in "Spencer" (2021). Jolie displays the necessary self-control to maintain the regal image of the world’s greatest opera singer, but physically she looks too skeletal to convincingly resemble the more robust figure of Callas. Written by Stephen Knight, the eerie, long film covers the last week of Callas’s life in 1977 Paris – a fictional story with inevitable flashbacks that cumulatively play out like a ghost story. All the production elements, like the polished cinematography and set details, are impressively handled, but Larraine’s creative choices are more controversial, like the hallucinogenic imagery of people singing to her in public. There’s the ambiguous role of an interviewer (played inexplicably by Kodi Smit-McPhee) with the same name as her prescription medication, which forces her to confront her heritage. Some of the flashbacks hint at more intriguing elements of her story, like her rather suspicious relationship with Aristotle Onassis, her traumatic encounters with Nazis as a child, and an intriguing conversation with JFK (played by Kaspars Philipssons in the same, somewhat minor role in "Jackie"). Her monastic existence is witnessed to only by two devoted servants, touchingly played by Pierfrancesco Favina and Alba Rohrwacher. Still, Jolie’s star power has been demonstrated by her unique talent for conveying arrogance and vulnerability almost simultaneously. “One Hundred Years of Solitude” is one of the biggest TV and streaming premieres this month. Check out our December calendar for more!