Maria: Art as Antagonist

Maria is a beautifully crafted homage to an iconic opera singer, pointedly played by Angelina Jolie, that illuminates the challenges that come with fame in an artistic and original manner.

Rating: 6.8/10

Highlights

• Dreamily slow-paced

• Unique framework

• Jolie perfectly captures Callas

Lowlights

• Fails to land a significant impact

• Not consistently engaging

• Lacked enough background on Callas to fully invest audience

The experience of watching Maria was unlike that of most films. I felt enraptured inside Callas' perspective in her final days, yet grounded enough to see her decline from the same point of view as those around her. Cinematically beautiful, the slow zooms and long takes throughout the film mirrored the beauty Callas herself produced through her music. The story was a well-done meditation on art and how much of your life it should consume, as Callas' marriage to her craft was ultimately her undoing. Jolie is fantastic as the lead character, and the film's format, showing Callas' final days through a validating lens of her own drug-induced perspective, honors her demons and point of view. Altogether, though not particularly insightful, Maria is a beautiful film about the pitfalls of commitment to your art, told in a way that further validates the art of film itself. 

If you liked Maria, check out Spencer or Jackie, historical dramas also centered on powerful women and directed by Pablo Larrain. 

Watch the trailer!