Early reactions to Angelina Jolie’s latest film signal the superstar’s triumphant return to the big screen.
Mariadirector Pablo Larraín’s new biopic about opera singer Maria Callas premiered at the Venice International Film Festival on Thursday, August 29.
Deadline film critic Stephanie Bunbury described Jolie, 49, as “an almost magical combination of a true diva,” in a review of the film.
“The actor’s dedication to this creation is evident at every step,” she wrote. “Knowing that Callas was only happy when she was on stage, she learned to sing for the part; the voice we hear is a mixture of Callas and Jolie’s own. More importantly, we can see her chest heave and her veins bulge as she is exhausted, body and soul, physical and emotional effort of singing.”
Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent praised Jolie’s performance in a review: “It’s a career-defining bit of synchronicity, underpinned by one of Jolie’s best performances. Her work has always been about that impeccable sense of control over posture and tone.”
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Angelina Jolie in “Maria”.
Pablo Larrain
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DiversityOwen Gleiberman wrote that Jolie “captures our attention, playing Maria as a cunning woman who is powerful, mysterious, combining the life force of a genius diva with the brooding emotional fire of a femme fatale”, in the film, expressing some problems with the film as a whole.
“Jolie reminds you, for the first time in years, that she can be a deadly serious actress of commanding subtlety and power,” Gleiberman added.
Writing for the film and television website Little White Lies, Hannah Strong stated that Jolie had “found the role of a lifetime” in a similar way to Natalie Portman’s portrayal of Jackie Kennedy in Larraín’s 2016 film. Jackie.
“It’s quite something to watch a woman as instantly recognizable as Jolie be so mesmerizing playing another incredibly famous (always a challenge in biopics where footage of the subject exists) and without the layers of prosthetics that actors normally rely on to ‘transform,’ “, she wrote. “However, Jolie pulls it off with a refined purr of a European accent and something equally fine in her walk.”
Fionnuala Halligan wrote for Screen Daily that the film transcends “a sense of elusiveness and the unexpected even within its familiar structure”, adding: “Larrain draws on Jolie’s aimlessness as she wanders Paris creating scenes and memories that take place only in her mind, and adding orchestras coming to life across the city to introduce ‘Madame Butterfly’ in the rain, for example.”
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Angelina Jolie in “Maria”.
Pablo LarraÃn
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Mariawritten by Steven Knight, is the latest in a series of biopics directed by Larraín, 48. His predecessor Spencer and Jackie it featured performances by Oscar nominee Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana and Portman as the former first lady.
“I take the responsibility of Maria’s life and legacy very seriously. I will do everything I can to meet the challenge,” Jolie said in a statement when the project was announced in 2022. Callas, who became an international sensation thanks to her three-octave vocal range, died in Paris in 1977 from a heart attack, according to The Guardian.
Mariawhich will also be shown at the Telluride Film Festival this weekend, has no release date yet; Netflix bought the film’s distribution rights.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education