Maria (2024)

Set in 1977 Paris. No longer performing because of the deterioration of her voice, the legendary opera singer Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie) lives in a secluded retirement with her butler (Pierfrancesco Favino) and housekeeper (Alba Rohrwacher). An interview that is being filmed has her reflecting on her past. Directed by Pablo Larrain, this is the third film in his trilogy of iconic women of the 20th century following JACKIE (2016) and SPENCER (2021), both receiving Oscar nominations for its leading ladies, Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy and Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana. A third nomination is highly likely for Jolie's Maria Callas. As cinema, it's a good film but it's Jolie's deeply felt performance that elevates it to another level. She inhabits the Callas of her later years and brings both a strength (Callas was not one to wallow in self pity) and a poignance to a woman bereft when her artistic life is vanished. As Larrain has proved before, his biographical films resist the cliches that mar the usual biopics. Even if you're not an opera fan, the film offers a rich cinematic experience thanks to Jolie's quietly potent performance. With Kodi Smit McPhee, Valeria Golino and in a wonderful performance as Aristotle Onassis, Haluk Bilginer.