Pablo Larrain MariaAngelina Jolie’s performance as famed opera singer Maria Callas was music to the ears of those sitting in the Grand Hall on Thursday night. Audiences at the Venice Film Festival responded to the world premiere with an eight-minute standing ovation, with the film’s star in tears at one point.
It’s been a busy week Maria front. On Wednesday, Netflix confirmed it had acquired distribution rights to the film. “I’m thrilled to be working again with a team at Netflix that is so passionate about movies,” the filmmaker said in a statement about the deal. “This film is my most personal work to date. It is the creative imagination and psychological portrait of Maria Callas, who dedicated her life to performing for audiences around the world and ultimately decided to find her own voice, her own identity, and for Sing to yourself.
Jolie also made her first public statement about the project during a press conference ahead of the screening Thursday afternoon. She apparently spent about seven months preparing for the challenging role, on the job training with opera singers and coaches to master the posture, breathing and movements of a singer like Callas. She told the outlet that delving into opera provided “the therapy I didn’t realize I needed.”
“I don’t know how much I suppressed but didn’t let out,” she continued. “So the challenge was not technical, but an emotional experience, finding my voice, in my body, to express it. You have to give every part of yourself.” When asked what part of Callas she most related to At the time, Jolie said, perhaps surprisingly, “that part of her that was extremely soft, there was no room in the world for her to be as soft as she really was — to be as emotionally open as she really was.” Was. I relate most to her vulnerability.
Maria
Courtesy of Venice Film Festival
According to real accounts, Maria It tells the story of the turbulent and tragic life of one of the world’s greatest opera singers during his final days in 1970s Paris. The script was written by Steven Knight. Jolie stars in a cast that also includes Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher, Haruk Bilgina, Kody Smit-McPhee and Valeria Golino . The producer list includes Fabula’s Juan de Dios Larraín, Komplizen Film’s Jonas Dornbach and Fremantle company The Apartment’s Lorenzo Mieli.
Jolie’s appearance at the Venice Film Festival is part of a wave of A-list talent hitting the Lido this year, a major return to Hollywood glitz and glamor. Films participating in the festival include Jolie’s ex-husband Brad Pitt, as well as stars such as George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, Titus Van Damme, Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga and Jude Law.
